Title: AG CHAIN Act
Policy area: Taxation

Summary:
Assistance and Gratitude for Coronavirus Heroes in Agribusiness who are Invaluable to the Nation Act or the AG CHAIN Act
This bill allows an exclusion from gross income, for income tax purposes, of wages and other income earned by certain qualified employees for the period between February 15, 2020, and June 15, 2020. The aggregate amount of such exclusion for any such employee may not exceed $25,000. A qualified employee is an essential food and agriculture employee who provides services at grocery stores, gasoline stations, restaurants, and other food service establishments that are located in a county that has at least one confirmed case of COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). The Department of the Treasury may extend the exclusion period for an additional three months if it determines that the COVID-19 emergency is likely to be ongoing.
The bill also suspends the payment of payroll taxes for employee wages not exceeding $75,000 for the same period.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6841 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6841

To provide an exclusion from gross income for certain workers, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 12, 2020

Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania (for himself and Mr. Evans) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide an exclusion from gross income for certain workers, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Assistance and Gratitude for 
Coronavirus Heroes in Agribusiness who are Invaluable to the Nation 
Act'' or the ``AG CHAIN Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) Qualified employee.--The term ``qualified employee'' 
        means any individual who is--
                    (A) an essential food and agriculture employee, and
                    (B) working on his or her employer's premises or on 
                duty delivering to customers or performing tasks on the 
                premises of a customer, traveling to and from such 
                locations, or otherwise at a prescribed work place that 
                is not his or her home or a remote worksite.
            (2) Essential food and agriculture employee.--The term 
        ``essential food and agriculture employee'' means--
                    (A) an employee who provides services at a business 
                that--
                            (i) is assigned a North American Industry 
                        Classification System code beginning with 4451, 
                        4471, 4247, 7225, 72233, 722330, 72331, or 
                        722310, and
                            (ii) is located in a county that has at 
                        least one confirmed case of COVID-19, or
                    (B) an employee identified as a member of the food 
                and agriculture workforce in the guidance issued by the 
                Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on 
                April 17, 2020, entitled ``Guidance on the Essential 
                Critical Infrastructure Workforce: Ensuring Community 
                and National Resilience in COVID-19 Response Version 
                3.0'' (or any successor guidance).

SEC. 3. EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME FOR CERTAIN WORKERS.

    (a) In General.--For purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 
gross income shall not include specified income of any qualified 
employee.
    (b) Limitation.--The aggregate amount not included in the gross 
income of any individual by reason of subsection (a) shall not exceed 
$25,000.
    (c) Applicable Period.--The term ``applicable period'' means the 
period beginning on February 15, 2020, and ending on June 15, 2020.
    (d) Specified Income.--For purposes of this section, the term 
``specified income'' means--
            (1) if the services described in section 1(2) are provided 
        as an employee, the wages (as defined in section 3121(a) of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986 determined without regard to 
        paragraph (1) thereof) received by the qualified employee for 
        the applicable period, and
            (2) in any other case, the income of the qualified employee 
        which is properly allocable to the services described in 
        section 1(2) which are provided by such qualified employee 
        during the applicable period.
    (e) Extension.--The Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary's 
delegate) may extend the applicable period for a period not to exceed 3 
additional calendar months if the Secretary (or the Secretary's 
delegate) determines that the emergency related to COVID-19 is likely 
to be ongoing during such period. If such period is so extended, the 
dollar amount in subsection (b) shall be increased by $6,250 for each 
month of such extension (and a like rate of increase with respect to 
any extension which is not a whole number of months).

SEC. 4. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF PAYROLL TAXES UP TO A CAP.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, with 
respect to so much of the total wages (as defined in section 3121(a) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) of the qualified employees of an 
employer as does not exceed $75,000--
            (1) with respect to any taxable year which begins in the 
        payroll tax suspension period, the rate of tax under section 
        1401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall be 0 
        percent,
            (2) with respect to remuneration received for pay periods 
        ending during the payroll tax suspension period, the rate of 
        tax under 3101(a) of such Code shall be 0 percent (including 
        for purposes of determining the applicable percentage under 
        sections 3201(a) and 3211(a)(1) of such Code), and
            (3) with respect to remuneration paid for pay periods 
        ending during the payroll tax suspension period, the rate of 
        tax under section 3111(a) of such Code shall be 0 percent 
        (including for purposes of determining the applicable 
        percentage under section 3221(a) of such Code).
    (b) Payroll Tax Suspension Period.--The term ``payroll tax 
suspension period'' means the period beginning on February 15, 2020, 
and ending on June 15, 2020.
    (c) Employer Notification.--The Secretary of the Treasury (or the 
Secretary's delegate) shall notify employers of the payroll tax 
suspension period in any manner the Secretary (or the Secretary's 
delegate) deems appropriate.
    (d) Extension.--The Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary's 
delegate) may extend the payroll tax suspension period for a period not 
to exceed 3 additional calendar months if the Secretary (or the 
Secretary's delegate) determines that the emergency related to COVID-19 
is likely to be ongoing during such period. If such period is so 
extended, the dollar amount in subsection (a) shall be increased by 
$18,750 for each month of such extension (and a like rate of increase 
with respect to any extension which is not a whole number of months).
    (e) Transfer of Funds.--
            (1) Transfers to federal old-age and survivors insurance 
        trust fund.--There are hereby appropriated 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 revenues to the Treasury by reason of the 
        application of subsection (a). 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 had such amendments not been enacted.
            (2) Transfers to social security equivalent benefit 
        account.--There are hereby appropriated to 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 the application of subsection (a). 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 Account had such amendments not been enacted.
            (3) Coordination with other federal laws.--For purposes of 
        applying any provision of Federal law other than the provisions 
        of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the rate of tax in effect 
        under section 3101(a) of such Code shall be determined without 
        regard to the reduction in such rate under this section.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 
2019.
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