I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8314 
To provide with respect to recent disasters an employee retention credit 
for employers affected by such disasters and rules for disaster-related 
personal casualty losses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 18, 2020 
Ms. FINKENAUER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on 
Small Business, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak-
er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju-
risdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide with respect to recent disasters an employee 
retention credit for employers affected by such disasters 
and rules for disaster-related personal casualty losses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Disaster Recovery for 
Economies, Local Individuals, Employers, and Families 
Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘Disaster RELIEF Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act— 
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(1) QUALIFIED DISASTER AREA.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘qualified 
disaster area’’ means any area with respect to 
which a major disaster was declared, during the 
period beginning on December 28, 2019, and 
ending on the date which is 60 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, by the Presi-
dent under section 401 of the Robert T. Staf-
ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
Act if the incident period of the disaster with 
respect to which such declaration is made be-
gins on or before the date of the enactment of 
this Act. 
(B) COVID-19 EXCEPTION.—Such term 
shall not include any area with respect to which 
such a major disaster has been so declared only 
by reason of COVID-19. 
(2) QUALIFIED
DISASTER
ZONE.—The term 
‘‘qualified disaster zone’’ means that portion of any 
qualified disaster area which was determined by the 
President, during the period beginning on December 
28, 2019, and ending on the date which is 60 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, to war-
rant individual or individual and public assistance 
from the Federal Government under the Robert T. 
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Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
Act by reason of the qualified disaster with respect 
to such disaster area. 
(3) QUALIFIED
DISASTER.—The term ‘‘quali-
fied disaster’’ means, with respect to any qualified 
disaster area, the disaster by reason of which a 
major disaster was declared with respect to such 
area. 
(4) INCIDENT PERIOD.—The term ‘‘incident pe-
riod’’ means, with respect to any qualified disaster, 
the period specified by the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency as the period during which such 
disaster occurred (except that for purposes of this 
Act such period shall not be treated as beginning be-
fore December 28, 2019, or ending after the date 
which is 30 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act). 
SEC. 3. EMPLOYEE RETENTION CREDIT FOR EMPLOYERS 
AFFECTED BY QUALIFIED DISASTERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, in the case of an eligible 
employer, the 2020 qualified disaster employee retention 
credit shall be treated as a credit listed at the end of sub-
section (b) of such section. For purposes of this sub-
section, the 2020 qualified disaster employee retention 
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credit for any taxable year is an amount equal to 40 per-
cent of the qualified wages with respect to each eligible 
employee of such employer for such taxable year. The 
amount of qualified wages with respect to any employee 
which may be taken into account under this subsection 
by the employer for any taxable year shall not exceed 
$6,000 (reduced by the amount of qualified wages with 
respect to such employee which may be so taken into ac-
count for any prior taxable year). 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 
(1) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘eligible 
employer’’ means any employer— 
(A) which conducted an active trade or 
business in a qualified disaster zone at any time 
during the incident period of the qualified dis-
aster with respect to such qualified disaster 
zone, and 
(B) with respect to whom the trade or 
business described in subparagraph (A) is inop-
erable at any time during the period beginning 
on the first day of the incident period of such 
qualified disaster and ending on the date of the 
enactment of this Act, as a result of damage 
sustained by reason of such qualified disaster. 
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(2) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘eligible 
employee’’ means with respect to an eligible em-
ployer an employee whose principal place of employ-
ment with such eligible employer (determined imme-
diately before the qualified disaster referred to in 
paragraph (1)) was in the qualified disaster zone re-
ferred to in such paragraph. 
(3) QUALIFIED WAGES.—The term ‘‘qualified 
wages’’ means wages (as defined in section 51(c)(1) 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, but without 
regard to section 3306(b)(2)(B) of such Code) paid 
or incurred by an eligible employer with respect to 
an eligible employee at any time on or after the date 
on which the trade or business described in para-
graph (1) first became inoperable at the principal 
place of employment of the employee (determined 
immediately before the qualified disaster referred to 
in such paragraph) and before the earlier of— 
(A) the date on which such trade or busi-
ness has resumed significant operations at such 
principal place of employment, or 
(B) the date which 150 days after the last 
day of the incident period of the qualified dis-
aster referred to in paragraph (1). 
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Such term shall include wages paid without regard 
to whether the employee performs no services, per-
forms services at a different place of employment 
than such principal place of employment, or per-
forms services at such principal place of employment 
before significant operations have resumed. Such 
term shall not include any wages taken into account 
under section 2301 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, 
and Economic Security Act. 
(c) SPECIAL RULES.— 
(1) EMPLOYEE
NOT
TAKEN
INTO
ACCOUNT 
MORE THAN ONCE.—An employee shall not be treat-
ed as an eligible employee for purposes of this sub-
section for any period with respect to any employer 
if such employer is allowed a credit under section 51 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect 
to such employee for such period. 
(2) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Any wages 
taken into account in determining the credit allowed 
under this section shall not be taken into account as 
wages for purposes of sections 41, 45A, 45P, 45S, 
51, and 1396 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 
(3) CERTAIN OTHER RULES TO APPLY.—For 
purposes of this subsection, rules similar to the rules 
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of sections 51(i)(1), 52, and 280C(a), of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986, shall apply. 
(d) ELECTION TO NOT TAKE CERTAIN WAGES INTO 
ACCOUNT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—This section shall not apply 
to qualified wages paid by an eligible employer with 
respect to which such employer makes an election 
(at such time and in such manner as the Secretary 
may prescribe) to have this section not apply to such 
wages. 
(2) COORDINATION WITH PAYCHECK PROTEC-
TION
PROGRAM.—The Secretary, in consultation 
with the Administrator of the Small Business Ad-
ministration, shall issue guidance providing that 
payroll costs paid or incurred during the covered pe-
riod shall not fail to be treated as qualified wages 
under this section by reason of an election under 
paragraph (1) to the extent that a covered loan of 
the eligible employer is not forgiven by reason of a 
decision under section 1106(g) of the CARES Act. 
Terms used in the preceding sentence which are also 
used in section 1106 of such Act shall have the same 
meaning as when used in such section. 
(e) AMENDMENT TO PAYCHECK PROTECTION PRO-
GRAM.—Section 1106(a)(8) of the CARES Act is amended 
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by inserting ‘‘, except that such costs shall not include 
qualified wages taken into account in determining the 
credit allowed under section 4 of the Disaster RELIEF 
Act’’ before the period at the end. 
SEC. 4. SPECIAL RULES FOR QUALIFIED DISASTER-RE-
LATED PERSONAL CASUALTY LOSSES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—If an individual has a net disaster 
loss for any taxable year— 
(1) the amount determined under section 
165(h)(2)(A)(ii) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 shall be equal to the sum of— 
(A) such net disaster loss, and 
(B) so much of the excess referred to in 
the matter preceding clause (i) of section 
165(h)(2)(A) of such Code (reduced by the 
amount in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph) 
as exceeds 10 percent of the adjusted gross in-
come of the individual, 
(2) in the case of qualified disaster-related per-
sonal casualty losses, section 165(h)(1) of such Code 
shall be applied to by substituting ‘‘$500’’ for ‘‘$500 
($100 for taxable years beginning after December 
31, 2009)’’, 
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(3) the standard deduction determined under 
section 63(c) of such Code shall be increased by the 
net disaster loss, and 
(4) section 56(b)(1)(E) of such Code shall not 
apply to so much of the standard deduction as is at-
tributable to the increase under paragraph (3) of 
this paragraph. 
(b) NET DISASTER LOSS.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the term ‘‘net disaster loss’’ means the excess of 
qualified disaster-related personal casualty losses over per-
sonal casualty gains (as defined in section 165(h)(3)(A) 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986). 
(c) QUALIFIED DISASTER-RELATED PERSONAL CAS-
UALTY LOSSES.—For purposes of this section, the term 
‘‘qualified disaster-related personal casualty losses’’ means 
losses described in section 165(c)(3) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 which arise in a qualified disaster area 
on or after the first day of the incident period of the quali-
fied disaster to which such area relates, and which are 
attributable to such qualified disaster. 
Æ 
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