I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3550 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the work opportunity 
credit for hiring veterans, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 27, 2019 
Ms. BROWNLEY of California 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 credit for hiring veterans, and for 
other purposes. 
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 ‘‘VOW to Hire Heroes 
Extension Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF WORK OPPORTUNITY CREDIT FOR 
VETERANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 51(c) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by striking paragraph (4) 
and redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (4). 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:50 Jul 09, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3550.IH
H3550
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to individuals who begin work for 
the employer after December 31, 2018. 
SEC. 3. SIMPLIFIED CERTIFICATION OF VETERAN STATUS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (D) of section 
51(d)(13) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amend-
ed to read as follows: 
‘‘(D) PRE-SCREENING OF QUALIFIED VET-
ERANS.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) 
shall be applied without regard to sub-
clause (II) of clause (ii) thereof in the case 
of an individual seeking treatment as a 
qualified veteran with respect to whom the 
pre-screening notice contains— 
‘‘(I) qualified veteran status doc-
umentation, 
‘‘(II) qualified proof of unemploy-
ment compensation, and 
‘‘(III) an affidavit furnished by 
the individual stating, under penalty 
of perjury, that the information pro-
vided under subclauses (I) and (II) is 
true. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:50 Jul 09, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3550.IH
H3550
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
‘‘(ii) QUALIFIED
VETERAN
STATUS 
DOCUMENTATION.—For purposes of clause 
(i), the term ‘qualified veteran status docu-
mentation’ means any documentation pro-
vided to an individual by the Department 
of Defense or the National Guard upon re-
lease or discharge from the Armed Forces 
which includes information sufficient to es-
tablish that such individual is a veteran. 
‘‘(iii) QUALIFIED
PROOF
OF
UNEM-
PLOYMENT COMPENSATION.—For purposes 
of clause (i), the term ‘qualified proof of 
unemployment compensation’ means, with 
respect to an individual, checks or other 
proof of receipt of payment of unemploy-
ment compensation to such individual for 
periods aggregating not less than 4 weeks 
(in the case of an individual seeking treat-
ment under paragraph (3)(A)(iii)), or not 
less than 6 months (in the case of an indi-
vidual seeking treatment under clause 
(ii)(II) or (iv) of paragraph (3)(A)), during 
the 1-year period ending on the hiring 
date.’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:50 Jul 09, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3550.IH
H3550
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply to individuals who begin work for 
the employer after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 4. CREDIT MADE AVAILABLE AGAINST PAYROLL 
TAXES IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 52(c) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended— 
(1) in the heading by striking ‘‘TAX-EXEMPT 
ORGANIZATIONS’’ and inserting ‘‘CERTAIN EMPLOY-
ERS’’, 
(2) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘QUALIFIED TAX-EXEMPT 
ORGANIZATIONS’’ in the heading and inserting 
‘‘CERTAIN EMPLOYERS’’, and 
(B) by striking ‘‘by qualified tax-exempt 
organizations’’ in the text and inserting ‘‘by 
certain employers’’. 
(b) CREDIT ALLOWED TO CERTAIN FOR-PROFIT EM-
PLOYERS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 
3111(e) of such Code is amended by inserting ‘‘or 
a qualified for-profit employer’’ after ‘‘If a qualified 
tax-exempt organization’’. 
(2) QUALIFIED
FOR-PROFIT
EMPLOYER
DE-
FINED.—Paragraph (5) of section 3111(e) of such 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:50 Jul 09, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3550.IH
H3550
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
Code is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of 
subparagraph (A), by redesignating subparagraph 
(B) as subparagraph (C), and by inserting after sub-
paragraph (A) the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(B) the term ‘qualified for-profit em-
ployer’ means, with respect to a taxable year, 
an employer not described in subparagraph (A), 
but only if— 
‘‘(i) such employer does not have prof-
its for any of the 3 taxable years preceding 
such taxable year, and 
‘‘(ii) such employer elects under sec-
tion 51(j) not to have section 51 apply to 
such taxable year, and’’. 
(3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(A) Section 3111(e)(1) of such Code is 
amended by striking ‘‘with respect to whom a 
credit would be allowable under section 38 by 
reason of section 51 if the organization were 
not a qualified tax-exempt organization’’. 
(B) Paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 
3111(e) of such Code are both amended by in-
serting ‘‘or for-profit employer’’ after ‘‘employ-
ees of the organization’’ each place it appears. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:50 Jul 09, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3550.IH
H3550
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
(C) Section 3111(e)(3)(C) of such Code is 
amended by inserting ‘‘in the case of a qualified 
tax-exempt organization,’’ before ‘‘by only tak-
ing into account’’. 
(D) Section 3111(e)(4) of such Code is 
amended by inserting ‘‘or for-profit employer’’ 
after ‘‘the organization’’. 
(E) Section 3111(e)(5)(C) of such Code, as 
redesignated by paragraph (2), is amended to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(C) the term ‘qualified veteran’ means a 
qualified veteran (within the meaning of section 
51(d)(3)) with respect to whom a credit would 
be allowable under section 38 by reason of sec-
tion 51 if the employer of such veteran were not 
a qualified tax-exempt organization or a quali-
fied for-profit employer.’’. 
(c) TRANSFERS TO FEDERAL OLD-AGE AND SUR-
VIVORS INSURANCE TRUST FUND.—There are hereby ap-
propriated to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Trust 
Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund 
established under section 201 of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 401) amounts equal to the reduction in reve-
nues to the Treasury by reason of the amendments made 
by subsections (a) and (b). Amounts appropriated by the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:50 Jul 09, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3550.IH
H3550
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
preceding sentence shall be transferred from the general 
fund at such times and in such manner as to replicate 
to the extent possible the transfers which would have oc-
curred to such Trust Fund had such amendments not 
been enacted. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsections (a) and (b) shall apply to individuals who 
begin work for the employer after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. 
SEC. 5. REPORT. 
Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Commis-
sioner of Internal Revenue, in consultation with the Sec-
retary of Labor, shall report to the Congress on the effec-
tiveness and cost-effectiveness of the amendments made 
by sections 2, 3, and 4 in increasing the employment of 
veterans. Such report shall include the results of a survey, 
conducted, if needed, in consultation with the Veterans’ 
Employment and Training Service of the Department of 
Labor, to determine how many veterans are hired by each 
employer that claims the credit under section 51, by rea-
son of subsection (d)(1)(B) thereof, or 3111(e) of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986. 
SEC. 6. TREATMENT OF POSSESSIONS. 
(a) PAYMENTS TO POSSESSIONS.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:50 Jul 09, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3550.IH
H3550
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
(1) MIRROR
CODE
POSSESSIONS.—The Sec-
retary of the Treasury shall pay to each possession 
of the United States with a mirror code tax system 
amounts equal to the loss to that possession by rea-
son of the amendments made by this Act. Such 
amounts shall be determined by the Secretary of the 
Treasury based on information provided by the gov-
ernment of the respective possession of the United 
States. 
(2) OTHER
POSSESSIONS.—The Secretary of 
the Treasury shall pay to each possession of the 
United States which does not have a mirror code tax 
system the amount estimated by the Secretary of the 
Treasury as being equal to the loss to that posses-
sion that would have occurred by reason of the 
amendments made by this Act if a mirror code tax 
system had been in effect in such possession. The 
preceding sentence shall not apply with respect to 
any possession of the United States unless such pos-
session establishes to the satisfaction of the Sec-
retary that the possession has implemented (or, at 
the discretion of the Secretary, will implement) an 
income tax benefit which is substantially equivalent 
to the income tax credit in effect after the amend-
ments made by this Act. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:50 Jul 09, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3550.IH
H3550
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
(b) 
COORDINATION
WITH
CREDIT
ALLOWED 
AGAINST UNITED STATES INCOME TAXES.—The credit 
allowed against United States income taxes for any tax-
able year under the amendments made by this Act to sec-
tion 51 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to any per-
son with respect to any qualified veteran shall be reduced 
by the amount of any credit (or other tax benefit described 
in subsection (a)(2)) allowed to such person against in-
come taxes imposed by the possession of the United States 
by reason of this section with respect to such qualified 
veteran for such taxable year. 
(c) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.— 
(1) POSSESSION OF THE UNITED STATES.—For 
purposes of this section, the term ‘‘possession of the 
United States’’ includes American Samoa, Guam, 
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is-
lands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the 
United States Virgin Islands. 
(2) MIRROR CODE TAX SYSTEM.—For purposes 
of this section, the term ‘‘mirror code tax system’’ 
means, with respect to any possession of the United 
States, the income tax system of such possession if 
the income tax liability of the residents of such pos-
session under such system is determined by ref-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:50 Jul 09, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3550.IH
H3550
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
erence to the income tax laws of the United States 
as if such possession were the United States. 
(3) TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS.—For purposes 
of section 1324(b)(2) of title 31, United States 
Code, the payments under this section shall be treat-
ed in the same manner as a refund due from credit 
provisions described in such section. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:50 Jul 09, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H3550.IH
H3550
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS