I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5012 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a credit for 
employer-provided worker training. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 8, 2019 
Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI (for himself, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. WILD, Ms. 
DELBENE, Mr. BERA, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, 
and Mr. SOTO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on 
Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 
a credit for employer-provided worker training. 
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 ‘‘Investing in American 
Workers Act’’. 
SEC. 2. EMPLOYER-PROVIDED WORKER TRAINING CREDIT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.— 
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(1) DETERMINATION OF CREDIT.—Subpart D 
of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Inter-
nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 
the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 
45T. 
EMPLOYER-PROVIDED 
WORKER 
TRAINING 
CREDIT. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, ex-
cept as provided in subsection (d), the employer-provided 
worker training credit under this section for the taxable 
year is an amount equal to 20 percent of the excess (if 
any) of— 
‘‘(1) the qualified training expenditures for 
such taxable year, over 
‘‘(2) the average of the qualified training ex-
penditures (if any) for the 3 taxable years preceding 
such taxable year. 
‘‘(b) QUALIFIED TRAINING EXPENDITURES.—For 
purposes of this section— 
‘‘(1) QUALIFIED TRAINING EXPENDITURES DE-
FINED.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 
training expenditures’ means any expenditures 
by an employer for qualified training for any 
non-highly compensated employee. 
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‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘qualified 
training expenditures’ shall not include any 
amounts paid for meals, lodging, transpor-
tation, or other services incidental to expendi-
tures described in subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(2) QUALIFIED TRAINING.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 
training’ means training which results in the at-
tainment of a recognized postsecondary creden-
tial and which is provided pursuant to one of 
the following: 
‘‘(i) An apprenticeship program which 
is registered under the Act of August 16, 
1937 (commonly known as the ‘National 
Apprenticeship Act’; 50 Stat. 664, chapter 
663) and is in an emerging industry. 
‘‘(ii) 
An 
apprenticeship 
program 
which is registered or approved by a recog-
nized State apprenticeship agency in ac-
cordance with section 1 of such Act and 
which is in an emerging industry. 
‘‘(iii) A program of training services 
listed pursuant to section 122(d) of the 
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 
Act. 
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‘‘(iv) A program which is conducted 
by an area career and technical education 
school, a community college, or a labor or-
ganization. 
‘‘(v) A program which is sponsored 
and administered by an employer, industry 
trade association, industry or sector part-
nership, or labor organization. 
‘‘(B) EMERGING
INDUSTRY.—The term 
‘emerging industry’ means, for a taxable year, 
an industry that comprises less than 30 percent 
of all civilian apprentices registered with the 
Department of Labor for the fiscal year ending 
in such taxable year. 
‘‘(C) COMMUNITY
COLLEGE.—The term 
‘community college’ means an institution which 
is a junior or community college as defined in 
section 312(f) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965. 
‘‘(D) LABOR
ORGANIZATION.—The term 
‘labor organization’ means a labor organization, 
within the meaning of the term in section 
501(c)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986. 
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‘‘(E) INDUSTRY
TRADE
ASSOCIATION.— 
The term ‘industry trade association’ means an 
organization which— 
‘‘(i) is described in paragraph (3) or 
(6) of section 501(c) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax-
ation under section 501(a) of such Code, 
and 
‘‘(ii) is representing an industry. 
‘‘(F) OTHER TERMS.—The terms ‘area ca-
reer and technical education school’, ‘recognized 
postsecondary credential’, and ‘industry or sec-
tor partnership’ have the meanings given such 
terms, respectively, by section 3 of the Work-
force Innovation and Opportunity Act. 
‘‘(3) NON-HIGHLY COMPENSATED EMPLOYEE.— 
The term ‘non-highly compensated employee’ means, 
with respect to an employer, an employee whose— 
‘‘(A) compensation (as such term is de-
fined in section 415(c)(3)) from such employer 
for services provided for the taxable year does 
not exceed $82,000, and 
‘‘(B) rate of compensation, if applied to a 
full-time employee for a year, would not exceed 
$82,000. 
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‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULES.— 
‘‘(1) SPECIAL RULE IN CASE OF NO QUALIFIED 
TRAINING EXPENDITURES IN ANY OF 3 PRECEDING 
TAXABLE YEARS.— 
‘‘(A) TAXPAYERS TO WHICH PARAGRAPH 
APPLIES.—The credit under this section shall 
be determined under this paragraph if the tax-
payer has no qualified training expenditures in 
any one of the 3 taxable years preceding the 
taxable year for which the credit is being deter-
mined. 
‘‘(B) CREDIT
RATE.—The credit deter-
mined under this paragraph shall be equal to 
10 percent of the adjusted qualified training ex-
penditures for the taxable year. 
‘‘(2) AGGREGATION AND ALLOCATION OF EX-
PENDITURES, ETC.—In determining the amount of 
the credit under this section, rules similar to the 
rules of paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), and (5) of sec-
tion 41(f) shall apply. 
‘‘(d) ELECTION TO APPLY CREDIT AGAINST PAY-
ROLL TAXES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At the election of a quali-
fied small business (as defined in section 41(h)) or 
a qualified tax-exempt organization (as defined in 
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made an election under this subsection for 
five or more preceding taxable years. 
‘‘(C) SPECIAL
RULE
FOR
PARTNERSHIPS 
AND S CORPORATIONS.—In the case of a part-
nership or S corporation, the election made 
under this subsection shall be made at the enti-
ty level. 
‘‘(4) AGGREGATION RULES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B)— 
‘‘(i) all members of the same con-
trolled group of corporations shall be treat-
ed as a single taxpayer, and 
‘‘(ii) all trades or businesses (whether 
or not incorporated) which are under com-
mon control shall be treated as a single 
taxpayer. 
‘‘(B) SPECIAL
RULES.—For purposes of 
this subsection and section 3111(g)— 
‘‘(i) each of the persons treated as a 
single taxpayer under subparagraph (A) 
may separately make the election under 
paragraph (1) for any taxable year, and 
‘‘(ii) the $250,000 amount under 
paragraph (4)(B)(i) shall be allocated 
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among all persons treated as a single tax-
payer under subparagraph (A) in the same 
manner as under section 41(f)(1). 
‘‘(5) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall pre-
scribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry 
out the purposes of this subsection, including— 
‘‘(A) regulations to prevent the avoidance 
of the purposes of the limitations and aggrega-
tion rules under this subsection, 
‘‘(B) regulations to minimize compliance 
and recordkeeping burdens under this sub-
section, and 
‘‘(C) regulations for recapturing the ben-
efit of credits determined under section 3111(g) 
in cases where there is a recapture or a subse-
quent adjustment to the payroll tax credit por-
tion of the credit determined under subsection 
(a), including requiring amended income tax re-
turns in the cases where there is such an ad-
justment.’’. 
(2) CREDIT
PART
OF
GENERAL
BUSINESS 
CREDIT.—Section 38(b) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the 
end of paragraph (31), by striking the period at the 
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end of paragraph (32) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and 
by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(33) the employer-provided worker training 
credit determined under section 45T(a).’’. 
(3) COORDINATION
WITH
DEDUCTIONS.—Sec-
tion 280C of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(i) 
EMPLOYER-PROVIDED
WORKER
TRAINING 
CREDIT.—No deduction shall be allowed for that portion 
of the expenses otherwise allowable as a deduction taken 
into account in determining the credit under section 45T 
for the taxable year which is equal to the amount of the 
credit determined for such taxable year under section 
45T(a).’’. 
(4) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of 
chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended by adding at the end the following new 
item: 
‘‘Sec. 45T. Employer-provided worker training credit.’’. 
(b) CREDIT ALLOWED AGAINST ALTERNATIVE MIN-
IMUM TAX.—Subparagraph (B) of section 38(c)(4) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 
(1) by redesignating clauses (x), (xi), and (xii) 
as clauses (xi), (xii), and (xiii), respectively, and 
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(2) by inserting after clause (ix) the following 
new clause: 
‘‘(x) the credit determined under sec-
tion 45T with respect to an eligible small 
business (as defined in paragraph (5)(A), 
after application of rules similar to the 
rules of paragraph (5)(B)),’’. 
(c) PAYROLL TAX CREDIT.—Section 3111 of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(g) CREDIT FOR WORKER TRAINING EXPENSES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a taxpayer 
who has made an election under section 45T(d) for 
a taxable year, there shall be allowed as a credit 
against the tax imposed by subsection (a) for the 
first calendar quarter which begins after the date on 
which the taxpayer files the return specified in sec-
tion 45T(d)(3)(A)(ii) an amount equal to the payroll 
tax 
credit 
portion 
determined 
under 
section 
45T(d)(2). 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The credit allowed by para-
graph (1) shall not exceed the tax imposed by sub-
section (a) for any calendar quarter on the wages 
paid with respect to the employment of all individ-
uals in the employ of the employer. 
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‘‘(3) CARRYOVER OF UNUSED CREDIT.—If the 
amount of the credit under paragraph (1) exceeds 
the limitation of paragraph (2) for any calendar 
quarter, such excess shall be carried to the suc-
ceeding calendar quarter and allowed as a credit 
under paragraph (1) for such quarter. 
‘‘(4) DEDUCTION
ALLOWED
FOR
CREDITED 
AMOUNTS.—The credit allowed under paragraph (1) 
shall not be taken into account for purposes of de-
termining the amount of any deduction allowed 
under chapter 1 for taxes imposed under subsection 
(a).’’. 
(d) SIMPLIFIED FILING FOR CERTAIN SMALL BUSI-
NESSES.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall provide for 
a method of filing returns of tax and information returns 
required under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in a 
simplified format, to the extent possible, for employers 
with less than $5,000,000 in annual gross receipts. 
(e) REGULATIONS RELATING
TO POSTSECONDARY 
CREDENTIALS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, in con-
sultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall issue 
regulations or other guidance applying the definition of 
the term ‘‘recognized postsecondary credential’’ as pro-
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vided in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor-
tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 
(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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