Small Business Hardship Relief Act

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Small Business Hardship Relief 
Act''.

SEC. 2. HARDSHIP EXEMPTION TO EMPLOYER HEALTH INSURANCE MANDATE FOR 
              SMALL BUSINESSES.

    (a) In General.--Section 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(e) Hardship Exemption for Small Businesses.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply 
        to any small business for any month if such small business is 
        experiencing a hardship with respect to the calendar year in 
        which such month begins.
            ``(2) Hardship.--A small business shall be treated for 
        purposes of this subsection as experiencing a hardship for any 
        calendar year if such business demonstrates to the satisfaction 
        of the Secretary that such business--
                    ``(A) missed two or more consecutive loan payments 
                during such year,
                    ``(B) is a debtor in a title 11 case (as defined in 
                section 108(d)(2)) the pendency of which includes any 
                portion of such year,
                    ``(C) received a notice from a utility during such 
                year that such utility is preparing to stop providing 
                services to such business by reason of nonpayment of 
                amounts owed for utility service,
                    ``(D) received a notice of eviction of foreclosure 
                during such year,
                    ``(E) experienced a fire, flood, other natural or 
                human-caused disaster that resulted in substantial 
                damage to property of the business during such year, or
                    ``(F) experiences such other hardship during such 
                year as the Secretary may determine for purposes of 
                this subsection.
            ``(3) Limitation to 5 years of exemptions.--Paragraph (1) 
        shall not apply to any small business for any calendar year if 
        such paragraph has applied to such small business for any 5 
        previous calendar years.
            ``(4) Small business.--For purposes of this subsection--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `small business' means, 
                with respect to any calendar year, an employer who 
                employed an average of not more than 100 full-time 
                employees on business days during the preceding 
                calendar year.
                    ``(B) Application of certain rules for determining 
                employer size; treatment of full-time equivalents as 
                full-time employees.--Rules similar to the rules of 
                subparagraphs (C) and (E) of subsection (c)(2) shall 
                apply for purposes of this subsection.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to months beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Hardship Exemption Not To Be Used as Sole Criteria for Audit.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, whether the hardship 
exemption provided under section 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (as added by this section) applies with respect to a taxpayer 
shall not be taken into account by the Internal Revenue Service as the 
sole factor in determining whether to audit such taxpayer.
    (d) Treasury Study on Additional Indications of Business 
Hardship.--
            (1) Study.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall conduct a 
        study regarding the additional hardships which would be 
        appropriate to add to the list of hardships in paragraph (2) of 
        section 4980H(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added 
        by this section), consistent with the purposes of such section.
            (2) Determination of additional hardships.--Not later than 
        6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
        Secretary of the Treasury shall, with respect to any hardship 
        which the Secretary determines should be added to such list of 
        hardships, add such hardship to such list by making the 
        determination described in subparagraph (F) of such section.
            (3) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
        provide a written report to Congress with respect to the study 
        conducted under paragraph (1). Such report shall include a 
        description of each hardship considered for inclusion in such 
        list of hardships, whether the Secretary made the determination 
        to include such hardship in such list, and the reasons that 
        such hardship was or was not so included, as the case may be.
            (4) References to secretary of the treasury.--Any reference 
        in this subsection to the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
        include a reference to any designee of such Secretary.

Summary: Small Business Hardship Relief Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from the employer mandate to provide minimum essential health care coverage for its employees a small business (i.e., an employer of not more than 100&nbsp;full-time employees)&nbsp;experiencing a hardship. Defines "hardship" to include situations in which a small business has missed two or more consecutive&nbsp;loan payments, is a debtor in a Chapter 11 (reorganization) bankruptcy proceeding,&nbsp;has received a notice of termination of utility services or a notice of eviction, has experienced a fire, flood, or other disaster, or has&nbsp;experienced another hardships as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study to identify additional hardships appropriate for granting an hardship exemption.  Prohibits the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from&nbsp;taking into account&nbsp;the applicability of a hardship exemption to a small business&nbsp;as the sole factor in determining whether to audit such business.