I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6818 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide employers a credit 
against employment and income taxes for certain employee training expenses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 14, 2023 
Mrs. HINSON 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 provide 
employers a credit against employment and income taxes 
for certain employee training expenses. 
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 ‘‘Bettering Employee 
Skills and Talents Act’’ or the ‘‘BEST Act’’. 
SEC. 2. WORKFORCE TRAINING CREDIT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter D of chapter 21 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 
the end the following new section: 
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‘‘SEC. 3135. WORKFORCE TRAINING CREDIT. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be allowed as a cred-
it against applicable employment taxes for each calendar 
quarter an amount equal to 30 percent of the qualified 
workforce training expenses paid or incurred by the em-
ployer during such calendar quarter. 
‘‘(b) 
QUALIFIED
WORKFORCE
TRAINING
EX-
PENSES.—For purposes of this section— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified work-
force training expenses’ means amounts paid or in-
curred by the employer to provide a qualified em-
ployee with qualified training. 
‘‘(2) QUALIFIED EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘quali-
fied employee’ means any employee who holds an 
entry-level position with the employer and has not 
obtained a bachelor’s degree. 
‘‘(3) QUALIFIED TRAINING.—The term ‘quali-
fied training’ means any program of training which 
is designed to prepare an individual for a skill or 
employment classification that is recognized by any 
State or local government, regulatory body, or pro-
fessional guild or organization. Such term shall not 
include any program of workplace safety training 
unless the skill or employment classification relates 
to workplace safety. 
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‘‘(c) APPLICABLE EMPLOYMENT TAXES.—For pur-
poses of this section, the term ‘applicable employment 
taxes’ means the taxes imposed under sections 3111(a), 
3111(b), and 3221(a). 
‘‘(d) CARRYOVER OF EXCESS CREDIT AS EMPLOY-
MENT OR INCOME TAX CREDIT.— 
‘‘(1) 
CREDIT
LIMITED
TO
EMPLOYMENT 
TAXES.—The credit allowed under subsection (a) 
with respect to any calendar quarter shall not exceed 
the applicable employment taxes (reduced by any 
credits allowed under subsection (e) or (f) of section 
3111) on the wages paid with respect to the employ-
ment of all the employees of the employer for such 
calendar quarter. 
‘‘(2) CARRYOVER AS EMPLOYMENT OR INCOME 
TAX CREDIT.—If the amount of any credit under 
subsection (a) exceeds the limitation of paragraph 
(1) for any calendar quarter, such excess— 
‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph 
(B), shall be carried to the succeeding calendar 
quarter and allowed as a credit under sub-
section (a) for such quarter, or 
‘‘(B) if the employer elects the application 
of this subparagraph (at such time and in such 
manner as the Secretary may provide), shall 
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taken into account as a current year business 
credit under section 38(b)(42) for the taxable 
year of the employer in which or with which 
such calendar quarter ends. 
‘‘(e) RECAPTURE.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—If credit is determined 
under this section with respect to any employee and 
such employee fails to succeed at training, the appli-
cable employment taxes of the employer with respect 
to which such credit is determined shall be increased 
for the calendar quarter which includes the date of 
such failure by the aggregate amount of such cred-
its. 
‘‘(2) DETERMINATION
OF
FAILURE.—An em-
ployee shall be treated as failing to succeed at train-
ing if such employee fails to complete the training 
program or fails to obtain the skill, employment 
classification, or certification with respect to which 
the training program relates. 
‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULES.— 
‘‘(1) AGGREGATION
RULE.—For purposes of 
subsection (b), all persons treated as a single em-
ployer under subsection (a) or (b) of section 52, or 
subsection (m) or (o) of section 414, shall be treated 
as one employer. 
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‘‘(2) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduc-
tion or credit (other than the credit determined 
under this section) shall be allowed for that portion 
of the qualified workforce training expenses paid or 
incurred in a taxable year which is equal to the cred-
it determined under this section with respect to such 
expenses. 
‘‘(3) EXCLUSION OF GOVERNMENTAL AND NON- 
PROFIT
EMPLOYERS.—No credit shall be allowed 
under this section to— 
‘‘(A) any agency or instrumentality of and 
Federal, State, or local government, or 
‘‘(B) any organization exempt from the tax 
imposed under chapter 1. 
‘‘(4) ELECTION
TO
NOT
CLAIM
CREDIT.—No 
credit shall be determined under subsection (a) with 
respect to so much of the qualified workforce train-
ing expenses as the employer elects (at such time 
and in such manner as the Secretary may provide) 
to not take into account for purposes of this section. 
‘‘(5) TREATMENT
OF
DEPOSITS.—The Sec-
retary shall waive any penalty under section 6656 
for any failure to make a deposit of any applicable 
employment taxes if the Secretary determines that 
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such failure was due to the reasonable anticipation 
of the credit allowed under this section. 
‘‘(6) EXTENSION OF LIMITATION ON ASSESS-
MENT.—Notwithstanding section 6501, the limita-
tion on the time period for the assessment of any 
amount attributable to a credit claimed under this 
section shall not expire before the date that is 5 
years after the later of— 
‘‘(A) the date on which the original return 
which includes the calendar quarter with re-
spect to which such credit is determined is filed, 
or 
‘‘(B) the date on which such return is 
treated as filed under section 6501(b)(2). 
‘‘(g) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE.—The Secretary 
shall issue such forms, instructions, regulations, and other 
guidance as are necessary— 
‘‘(1) with respect to the application of the cred-
it under this section to third party payors (including 
professional employer organizations, certified profes-
sional employer organizations, or agents under sec-
tion 3504), including regulations or guidance allow-
ing such payors to submit documentation necessary 
to substantiate such credit, 
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‘‘(2) to provide for adequate reporting of infor-
mation to the Secretary for purposes of this section, 
and 
‘‘(3) with respect to the recapture under sub-
section (f) of the credit determined by this section, 
including the establishment of periods after which a 
failure described in subsection (f)(2) will be treated 
as occurring if the requirements described in such 
subsection are not satisfied as of the close of such 
period. 
Any forms, instructions, regulations, or other guidance de-
scribed in paragraph (1) shall require the customer to be 
responsible for the accounting of the credit and for any 
liability for improperly claimed credits and shall require 
the certified professional employer organization or other 
third party payor to accurately report such tax credits 
based on the information provided by the customer.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 38(b) of such Code is amended by 
striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph (40), by 
striking the period at the end of paragraph (41) and 
inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(42) in the case of a taxpayer making the elec-
tion under 3135(e)(2)(B) for any calendar quarter 
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ending during or with such taxable year, the amount 
treated as a credit under this paragraph pursuant to 
such election.’’. 
(2) Section 3511(d)(2) of such Code is amend-
ed by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph 
(H), by redesignating subparagraph (I) as subpara-
graph (J), and by inserting after subparagraph (H) 
the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(I) section 3135 (workforce training cred-
it), and’’. 
(3) The table of sections for subchapter D of 
chapter 21 of such Code is amended by adding at 
the end the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 3135. Workforce training credit.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to calendar quarters beginning 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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