Title: A bill to provide for a credit against employment taxes for certain workplace safety expenses, and for other purposes.
Policy area: Taxation

Summary:
This bill allows employers with not more than 2,000 full-time employees and certain tax-exempt organizations a payroll tax credit for 50% of their expenses for equipment, services, and training for preventing the transmission of the coronovirus (i.e., the virus that causes COVID-19). The bill limits the amount of such expenses that may be taken into account for purposes of calculating the credit and the period of applicability from February 1, 2020, and beginning before January 1, 2022.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4178 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4178

To provide for a credit against employment taxes for certain workplace 
                safety expenses, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              July 2, 2020

Ms. Sinema (for herself and Mr. Cramer) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for a credit against employment taxes for certain workplace 
                safety expenses, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. TAX CREDIT FOR SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS.

    (a) In General.--In the case of an eligible employer, there shall 
be allowed as a credit against applicable employment taxes for each 
calendar quarter an amount equal to 50 percent of the qualified 
expenses paid or incurred by such employer during such calendar 
quarter.
    (b) Limitations and Refundability.--
            (1) Limitation.--The qualified fixed expenses which may be 
        taken into account under subsection (a) by any eligible 
        employer for any calendar quarter shall not exceed--
                    (A) in the case of any calendar quarter beginning 
                in 2020, $500,000, and
                    (B) in the case of any calendar quarter beginning 
                after 2020, $250,000.
            (2) Credit limited to certain employment taxes.--The credit 
        allowed by subsection (a) with respect to any calendar quarter 
        shall not exceed the applicable employment taxes for such 
        calendar quarter (reduced by any credits allowed under 
        subsections (e) and (f) of section 3111 of such Code, sections 
        7001 and 7003 of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, 
        and section 2301 of the CARES Act, for such quarter) on the 
        wages paid with respect to the employment of all the employees 
        of the eligible employer for such calendar quarter.
            (3) Refundability of excess credit.--
                    (A) In general.--If the amount of the credit under 
                subsection (a) exceeds the limitation of paragraph (2) 
                for any calendar quarter, such excess shall be treated 
                as an overpayment that shall be refunded under sections 
                6402(a) and 6413(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
                1986.
                    (B) Treatment of payments.--For purposes of section 
                1324 of title 31, United States Code, any amounts due 
                to an employer under this paragraph shall be treated in 
                the same manner as a refund due from a credit provision 
                referred to in subsection (b)(2) of such section.
    (c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            (1) Applicable employment taxes.--The term ``applicable 
        employment taxes'' means the following:
                    (A) The taxes imposed under section 3111(a) of the 
                Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
                    (B) So much of the taxes imposed under section 
                3221(a) of such Code as are attributable to the rate in 
                effect under section 3111(a) of such Code.
            (2) Eligible employer.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``eligible employer'' 
                means any employer--
                            (i) which was carrying on a trade or 
                        business at any time during calendar quarter, 
                        and
                            (ii) which has not more than 2,000 full-
                        time equivalent employees (within the meaning 
                        of section 45R(d)(2) of the Internal Revenue 
                        Code of 1986) for the taxable year.
                    (B) Tax-exempt organizations.--In the case of an 
                organization which is described in section 501(c) of 
                the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax 
                under section 501(a) of such Code, subparagraph (A)(i) 
                shall apply to all operations of such organization.
            (3) Qualified expenses.--For purposes of this section--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``qualified expenses'' 
                means any amount paid or incurred after February 1, 
                2020, for--
                            (i) qualified equipment and services for 
                        the purposes of preventing infection related to 
                        SARS-CoV-2, or
                            (ii) the reconfiguration of facilities for 
                        such purposes, or
                            (iii) qualified education and training of 
                        employees for new business procedures related 
                        to preventing COVID-19 transmission.
                    (B) Qualified equipment and services.--The term 
                ``qualified equipment and services'' means--
                            (i) any product or material which--
                                    (I) serves as personal protective 
                                equipment or as a barrier erected to 
                                prevent virus spread between customers 
                                and employees, including plexiglass 
                                installed at cashiers and other 
                                counters, and partitions to separate 
                                customers,
                                    (II) is a disinfectant product 
                                registered by the Administrator of the 
                                Environmental Protection Agency for 
                                which the Administrator of the 
                                Environmental Protection Agency has 
                                approved an emerging viral pathogen 
                                claim that applies with respect to use 
                                against SARS-CoV-2,
                                    (III) is a thermometer, or
                                    (IV) is approved by the Food and 
                                Drug Administration for testing for 
                                COVID-19 (including diagnosic testing 
                                and serology testing to detect 
                                antibodies) by the eligible employer, 
                                in conjunction with a certified 
                                diagnostics laboratory or health care 
                                provider,
                            (ii) any--
                                    (I) contactless point-of-sale 
                                system,
                                    (II) new software and technology to 
                                assist in maintaining social 
                                distancing,
                                    (III) application for reporting 
                                employee symptom or providing wellness 
                                checks, and
                                    (IV) property used to enable 
                                curbside pickup or delivery services,
                            (iii) hand sanitizer,
                            (iv) any sign related to public health 
                        awareness, social distancing, or altered 
                        services such as curbside pickups, and
                            (v) services for--
                                    (I) cleaning and disinfecting, or
                                    (II) testing for COVID-19 by a 
                                certified diagnostics laboratory, and
                            (vi) such other equipment or technology as 
                        determined by the Secretary, in consultation 
                        with the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of 
                        Health and Human Services, the Director of the 
                        Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 
                        Commissioner of the Food and Drug 
                        Administration, the Secretary of Veterans 
                        Affairs, the Secretary of Defense, and the 
                        Secretary of Agriculture, determines is 
                        necessary and appropriate for preventing COVID-
                        19 and is recommended as part of the Federal 
                        government's recommendations for safe 
                        workplaces.
                Such term shall not include any equipment which is not 
                for use in the United States or any service which is 
                not conducted in the United States.
                    (C) Qualified education and training.--The term 
                ``qualified education and training'' means education or 
                training provided by an accredited training 
                institution, an industry-recognized trade association, 
                or another nonprofit entity.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Treasury or the Secretary's delegate.
    (d) Aggregation Rule.--All persons treated as a single employer 
under subsection (a) or (b) of section 52 of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986, or subsection (m) or (o) of section 414 of such Code, shall be 
treated as one employer for purposes of this section.
    (e) Denial of Double Benefit.--For purposes of chapter 1 of such 
Code, the gross income of any eligible employer, for the taxable year 
which includes the last day of any calendar quarter with respect to 
which a credit is allowed under this section, shall be increased by the 
amount of such credit.
    (f) Election Not To Have Section Apply.--This section shall not 
apply with respect to any eligible employer for any calendar quarter if 
such employer elects (at such time and in such manner as the Secretary 
may prescribe) not to have this section apply.
    (g) Transfers to Certain Trust Funds.--There are hereby 
appropriated to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund 
and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund established under 
section 201 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401) and the Social 
Security Equivalent Benefit Account established under section 15A(a) of 
the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 231n-1(a)) amounts equal 
to the reduction in revenues to the Treasury by reason of this section 
(without regard to this subsection). Amounts appropriated by the 
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 occurred to such Trust Fund or Account had 
this section not been enacted.
    (h) Treatment of Deposits.--The Secretary shall waive any penalty 
under section 6656 of such Code for any failure to make a deposit of 
applicable employment taxes if the Secretary determines that such 
failure was due to the anticipation of the credit allowed under this 
section.
    (i) Regulations and Guidance.--The Secretary shall issue such 
forms, instructions, regulations, and guidance as are necessary--
            (1) to allow the advance payment of the credit under 
        subsection (a), subject to the limitations provided in this 
        section, based on such information as the Secretary shall 
        require,
            (2) to provide for the reconciliation of such advance 
        payment with the amount of the credit at the time of filing the 
        return of tax for the applicable quarter or taxable year,
            (3) with respect to the application of the credit under 
        subsection (a) to third-party payors (including professional 
        employer organizations, certified professional employer 
        organizations, or agents under section 3504 of the Internal 
        Revenue Code of 1986), including regulations or guidance 
        allowing such payors to submit documentation necessary to 
        substantiate the eligible employer status of employers that use 
        such payors,
            (4) for recapturing the benefit of credits determined under 
        this section in cases where there is a subsequent adjustment to 
        the credit determined under subsection (a), and
            (5) for providing the benefit of the credit under 
        subsection (a) to taxpayers who have already filed returns for 
        calendar quarters ending before the date of the enactment of 
        this Act.
    (j) Application of Section.--This section shall apply only to 
qualified fixed expenses paid or accrued in calendar quarters ending on 
or after February 1, 2020, and beginning before January 1, 2022.
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