I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4178 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the work opportunity 
tax credit and to allow small employers a credit against income tax 
for hiring individuals receiving unemployment compensation. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 3, 2015 
Mr. LOWENTHAL (for himself, Ms. KUSTER, and Mr. CA´RDENAS) 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 tax credit and to allow small em-
ployers a credit against income tax for hiring individuals 
receiving unemployment compensation. 
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 ‘‘American Unemployed 
Worker Investment Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF WORK OPPORTUNITY TAX CREDIT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 51(c)(4) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘December 
31, 2014’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2017’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply to individuals who begin work 
for the employer after December 31, 2014. 
SEC. 3. CREDIT FOR EMPLOYERS WHO HIRE INDIVIDUALS 
RECEIVING 
UNEMPLOYMENT 
COMPENSA-
TION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 51(d)(1) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (defining members of targeted 
group) is amended by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (H), by striking the period at the end of subpara-
graph (I) and inserting ‘‘, or’’, and by adding at the end 
the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(J) in the case of a small business em-
ployer, a qualified unemployment compensation 
recipient.’’. 
(b) QUALIFIED
UNEMPLOYMENT
COMPENSATION 
RECIPIENT.—Section 51(d) of such Code is amended by 
redesignating paragraphs (11) through (14) as para-
graphs (12) through (15), respectively, and by inserting 
after paragraph (10) the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(11) QUALIFIED UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSA-
TION RECIPIENT; SMALL BUSINESS EMPLOYER.— 
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 
unemployment compensation recipient’ means 
any individual who is certified by the designated 
local agency as— 
‘‘(i) not being a student for at least 6 
months during the 1-year period ending on 
the hiring date, 
‘‘(ii) being in receipt of unemployment 
compensation under State or Federal law 
on the hiring date, and 
‘‘(iii) having a hiring date during the 
2-year period which begins on the date of 
the enactment of this paragraph. 
‘‘(B) SMALL
BUSINESS
EMPLOYER.—For 
purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘small 
business employer’ means, with respect to any 
hiring date, any employer which employs more 
than 10 but fewer than 25 full-time equivalent 
employees throughout the taxable year. 
‘‘(C) STUDENT.—For purposes of this 
paragraph, a student is an individual enrolled 
at least half-time in a program that leads to a 
degree, certificate, or other recognized edu-
cational credential for at least 6 months 
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(whether or not consecutive) during the 1-year 
period ending on the hiring date.’’. 
(c) MAXIMUM $4,000 CREDIT PER EMPLOYEE.— 
Section 51(b)(3) of such Code is amended by inserting 
‘‘$10,000 per year in the case of any individual who is 
a qualified unemployment compensation recipient by rea-
son of subsection (d)(11),’’ after ‘‘$6,000 per year (’’. 
(d) DENIAL
OF
CREDIT
UNLESS
EMPLOYMENT 
FULL-TIME FOR 1 YEAR.—Section 51(i)(3) of such Code 
(relating to individuals not meeting minimum employment 
periods) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new subparagraph: 
‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULES FOR QUALIFIED UN-
EMPLOYMENT
COMPENSATION
RECIPIENTS.— 
No wages shall be taken into account under 
subsection (a) with respect to a qualified unem-
ployment compensation recipient unless— 
‘‘(i) such individual is employed by 
the employer for not less than 35 hours 
per week for not less than 1 year, and 
‘‘(ii) the number of full-time equiva-
lent employees of the employer is increased 
by 1 for at least 1 year by reason of such 
individual’s employment by the employer.’’. 
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(e) CREDIT MADE AVAILABLE TO TAX-EXEMPT EM-
PLOYERS IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 3111(e) of such 
Code is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘QUALIFIED VETERANS’’ 
in 
the 
subsection 
heading 
and 
inserting 
‘‘QUALIFIED INDIVIDUALS’’, 
(B) by striking ‘‘qualified veteran’’ each 
place it appears in the text and inserting 
‘‘qualified individual’’, and 
(C) by striking ‘‘qualified veterans’’ in 
paragraph (2) and inserting ‘‘qualified individ-
uals’’. 
(2) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—Section 
3111(e)(5)(B) of such Code is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(B) 
the 
term 
‘qualified 
individual’ 
means— 
‘‘(i) any qualified veteran (as defined 
in section 51(d)(3)), and 
‘‘(ii) any qualified unemployment com-
pensation recipient (as defined in section 
51(d)(11)).’’. 
(3) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
52(c)(2) of such Code is amended— 
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(A) by inserting ‘‘AND QUALIFIED UNEM-
PLOYMENT COMPENSATION RECIPIENTS’’ after 
‘‘QUALIFIED VETERANS’’ in the heading, and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘and qualified unemploy-
ment compensation recipients’’ after ‘‘qualified 
veterans’’ in the text. 
(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to individuals who begin work for 
the employer after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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