I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 885 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide tax credits for 
personal protective equipment to small businesses, non-profits, inde-
pendent contractors, veterans’ organizations, and farmers, among other 
entities, in any year in which the President declares a national emergency 
relating to COVID–19. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 5, 2021 
Mrs. LAWRENCE (for herself, Mr. BALDERSON, Mr. QUIGLEY, and Mr. JOYCE 
of Pennsylvania) 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 
tax credits for personal protective equipment to small 
businesses, non-profits, independent contractors, vet-
erans’ organizations, and farmers, among other entities, 
in any year in which the President declares a national 
emergency relating to COVID–19. 
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 ‘‘Small Business PPE 
Tax Credit Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) On January 21, 2020, the United States 
confirmed the Nation’s first case of the 2019 novel 
coronavirus, which presents as the disease COVID– 
19. 
(2) On March 11, 2020, the World Health Or-
ganization upgraded the COVID–19 outbreak from 
global health emergency status to a pandemic. 
(3) On March 15, 2020, the Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention recommended a restric-
tion on gatherings of 50 or more people in the 
United States. 
(4) Beginning in mid-March, the administration 
issued new guidelines on the pandemic and called for 
nationwide social distancing, among other pre-
cautions, to slow the spread of COVID–19. 
(5) On March 17, 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci, in 
his capacity as Director of the National Institute of 
Allergy and Infectious Diseases, explained that ‘‘so-
cial distancing is really physical separation of people, 
wherein circumstances where there are crowds, you 
remove yourself from very close contact.’’ 
(6) Most Governors executed orders in States 
across the country to close or restrict operations of 
business across various industries on a temporary 
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basis, in an effort to promote social distancing, sty-
mie the rapid spread of the coronavirus, and flatten 
the curve so as not to overwhelm the Nation’s health 
care system’s capacity. 
(7) Those closures or operating limitations have 
caused significant strain on America’s small busi-
nesses in the interest of public health. 
(8) Small businesses are the engine of the 
United States economy, comprising 99 percent of all 
business ventures in the United States and account-
ing for half of the United States economy. 
(9) In order to safely resume full operations, 
these small businesses need access to personal pro-
tective equipment; in some cases, States are requir-
ing employers and employees use this personal pro-
tective equipment in order to allow public entry. 
(10) Due to the fiscal strain of pandemic-re-
lated losses on these small businesses, they cannot 
and should not bear the financial burden of acquir-
ing personal protective equipment without relief. 
(11) Providing relief through a tax credit for 
the purchase and use of personal protective equip-
ment will directly support small businesses returning 
to and exceeding pre-COVID-19 pandemic produc-
tion levels. 
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(12) At a Small Business Committee forum on 
May 28, 2020, Mr. Charles ‘‘Tee’’ Rowe, President 
and Chief Executive Officer of America’s SBDC, 
testified to the potential value of such credits. 
(13) Personal protective equipment tax credits 
will be instrumental in safely and responsibly re-
starting the engine of the United States economy. 
SEC. 3. PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT TAX CREDIT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section: 
‘‘SEC. 45U. PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT CREDIT. 
‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—For purposes of sec-
tion 38, the personal protective equipment credit deter-
mined under this section for the taxable year is an amount 
equal to the amount paid by an eligible taxpayer in car-
rying on any trade or business for qualified personal pro-
tective equipment expenses during such year. 
‘‘(b) MAXIMUM CREDIT.—The credit determined 
under this section with respect to any eligible taxpayer for 
any taxable year shall not exceed $25,000. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITION AND SPECIAL RULES.—For pur-
poses of this section— 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE TAXPAYER.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible tax-
payer’ means— 
‘‘(i) a small business concern, 
‘‘(ii) any business concern (including 
an enterprise that is engaged in the busi-
ness of production of food and fiber, 
ranching and raising of livestock, aqua-
culture, and all other farming and agricul-
tural related industries), or Tribal business 
concern that employs not more than the 
greater of— 
‘‘(I) 500 employees, or 
‘‘(II) if applicable, the size stand-
ard in number of employees estab-
lished by the Small Business Adminis-
tration for the industry in which such 
business concern, veterans organiza-
tion, or Tribal business concern oper-
ates, or 
‘‘(iii) an individual who operates 
under a sole proprietorship, as an inde-
pendent contractor, or as a self-employed 
individual. 
‘‘(B) SMALL
BUSINESS
CONCERN.—The 
term ‘small business concern’ has the meaning 
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