To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow employers a credit against income tax for employing members of the Ready Reserve and National Guard and veterans recently separated from the Armed Forces.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Hiring Heroes Tax Incentive Act of 
2009''.

SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR EMPLOYERS WHO EMPLOY MEMBERS OF THE READY RESERVE 
              AND NATIONAL GUARD AND VETERANS RECENTLY SEPARATED FROM 
              THE ARMED FORCES.

    (a) In General.--Subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to business-related 
credits) is amended by inserting after section 45Q the following new 
section:

``SEC. 45R. CREDIT FOR EMPLOYERS WHO EMPLOY MEMBERS OF THE READY 
              RESERVE AND NATIONAL GUARD AND VETERANS RECENTLY 
              SEPARATED FROM THE ARMED FORCES.

    ``(a) Allowance of Credit.--For purposes of section 38, the amount 
of the military employment credit determined under this section with 
respect to any employer for any taxable year is 15 percent of the 
qualified wages paid or incurred during the calendar year which ends 
with or within such taxable year.
    ``(b) Qualified Wages.--
            ``(1) In general.--For purposes of this section, the term 
        `qualified wages' means any wages paid or incurred by an 
        employer for services performed by a qualified employee.
            ``(2) Only first $10,000 of wages per year taken into 
        account.--With respect to each employee, the amount of 
        qualified wages which may be taken into account for a calendar 
        year shall not exceed $10,000.
            ``(3) Coordination with other credits.--The $10,000 amount 
        in paragraph (2) shall be reduced for any calendar year by the 
        amount of wages paid or incurred during such year which are 
        taken into account in determining the credit under section 
        45A(a), 45P(a), 51(a), 1396(a), 1400P(b), or 1400R.
    ``(c) Qualified Employee.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) Qualified employee.--The term `qualified employee' 
        means, with respect to any period, any employee of an employer 
        if during such period--
                    ``(A) substantially all of the services performed 
                by such employee for such employer are performed in a 
                trade or business of the employer, and
                    ``(B) such employee is--
                            ``(i) a Ready Reserve-National Guard 
                        employee, or
                            ``(ii) a recently-separated veteran.
            ``(2) Certain individuals not eligible.--The term 
        `qualified employee' shall not include any individual described 
        in a subparagraph of section 1396(d)(2) (relating to certain 
        individuals not eligible to be qualified zone employees).
            ``(3) Ready reserve-national guard employee.--The term 
        `Ready Reserve-National Guard employee' means an employee who 
        is a member of the Ready Reserve (as defined in section 10142 
        of title 10, United States Code) or the National Guard (as 
        defined in section 101(c)(1) of such title 10).
            ``(4) Recently-separated veteran.--The term `recently-
        separated veteran' means an individual who served on active 
        duty (other than active duty for training) in the Armed Forces 
        of the United States and was discharged or released therefrom 
        under honorable conditions within the 5-year period ending on 
        the date of the performance of services.
    ``(d) Other Definitions and Special Rules.--
            ``(1) Wages.--For purposes of this section, the term 
        `wages' has the meaning given to such term by section 1397(a).
            ``(2) Controlled groups, etc.--Rules similar to the rules 
        of subsections (b) and (c) of section 1397 shall apply for 
        purposes of this section.
    ``(e) Termination.--The term `wages' shall not include any amount 
paid or incurred to an individual who begins work for the employer 
after December 31, 2012.''.
    (b) Denial of Double Benefit.--Subsection (a) of section 280C of 
such Code (relating to denial of deduction for certain expenses for 
which credits are allowable) is amended by inserting ``45R,'' after 
``45P(a),''.
    (c) Credit To Be Part of General Business Credit.--Subsection (b) 
of section 38 of such Code is amended by striking ``plus'' at the end 
of paragraph (34), by striking the period at the end of paragraph (35) 
and inserting ``, plus'', and by inserting after paragraph (35) the 
following new paragraph:
            ``(36) the military employment credit determined under 
        section 45R(a).''.
    (d) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subpart D of 
part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by adding 
at the end the following new item:

``Sec. 45R. Credit for employers who employ members of the Ready 
                            Reserve and National Guard and veterans 
                            recently separated from the Armed 
                            Forces.''.
    (e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.

Summary: Hiring Heroes Tax Incentive Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers a tax credit for up to 15% of the first $10,000 of wages paid to a Ready Reserve-National Guard employee or a recently-separated veteran (i.e., honorably discharged within the past five years). Terminates such credit after 2012.