Title: Thank You Act
Policy area: Taxation

Summary:
Thank You Act

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4558 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4558

  To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a temporary 
  refundable tax credit for law enforcement officers and an above-the-
                  line deduction for first responders.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 10, 2020

  Mr. Graham introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a temporary 
  refundable tax credit for law enforcement officers and an above-the-
                  line deduction for first responders.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Thank You Act''.

SEC. 2. TEMPORARY REFUNDABLE CREDIT FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.

    (a) In General.--Subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after 
section 36B the following new section:

``SEC. 36C. CREDIT FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.

    ``(a) In General.--In the case of an individual who is employed or 
who volunteers as an eligible law enforcement officer during the first 
taxable year beginning in 2020, there shall be allowed as a credit 
against the tax imposed by this subtitle for such taxable year an 
amount equal to--
            ``(1) in the case of an individual who has been employed or 
        who has volunteered as an eligible law enforcement officer for 
        a cumulative period of not less than 10 years, $1,000, and
            ``(2) in the case of an individual who is not described in 
        paragraph (1), $500.
    ``(b) Eligible Law Enforcement Officer.--
            ``(1) In general.--For purposes of this section, the term 
        `eligible law enforcement officer' means--
                    ``(A) any sworn officer, agent, or employee of a 
                State, unit of local government, or an Indian tribe 
                authorized by law or by a government agency to engage 
                in or supervise the prevention, detection, or 
                investigation of any violation of criminal law, and
                    ``(B) any Federal law enforcement officer, as 
                defined in section 115(c)(1) of title 18, United States 
                Code.
            ``(2) Part-time and volunteers.--For purposes of this 
        section, the term `eligible law enforcement officer' shall 
        include any individual described in paragraph (1) who is 
        employed or who volunteers on a full-time, part-time, or 
        auxiliary basis during the taxable year.''.
    (b) W-2 Reporting of Years of Service as Law Enforcement Officer.--
Section 6051(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 
striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (16), by striking the period 
at the end of paragraph (17) and inserting ``, and'', and by inserting 
after paragraph (17) the following new paragraph:
            ``(18) in the case of an individual who was employed or who 
        volunteered as an eligible law enforcement officer (as defined 
        in section 36C(b)) during the first taxable year beginning in 
        2020, the total number of years for which such individual has 
        been employed or volunteered as an eligible law enforcement 
        officer.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 6211(b)(4)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
        1986 is amended by inserting ``36C,'' after ``36B,''.
            (2) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of title 31, United 
        States Code, is amended by inserting ``36C,'' after ``36B,''.
            (3) The table of sections for subpart C of part IV of 
        subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
        is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 36B 
        the following new item:

``Sec. 36C. Credit for law enforcement officers.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2019.

SEC. 3. ABOVE-THE-LINE DEDUCTION FOR FIRST RESPONDERS.

    (a) In General.--Part VII of subchapter B of chapter 1 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating section 224 
as section 225 and by inserting after section 223 the following new 
section:

``SEC. 224. FIRST RESPONDERS.

    ``(a) In General.--In the case of an individual who is employed as 
an eligible first responder during any taxable year, there shall be 
allowed as a deduction for such taxable year an amount equal to $1,500.
    ``(b) Eligible First Responder.--For purposes of this section, the 
term `eligible first responder' has the same meaning given the term 
`emergency response providers' under section 2(6) of the Homeland 
Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101(6)).
    ``(c) Exclusion for 2020.--For the first taxable year beginning in 
2020, the deduction under subsection (a) shall not be allowed to any 
individual for whom the credit under section 36C is allowed for such 
taxable year.''.
    (b) Above-the-Line Deduction.--Section 62(a) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after paragraph (22) the 
following new paragraph:
            ``(23) First responders.--The deduction allowed under 
        section 224.''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for part VII of 
subchapter B of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended by redesignating the item relating to section 224 as an item 
relating to section 225 and by inserting after the item relating to 
section 223 the following new item:

``Sec. 224. First responders.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2019.
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