Topic: Labor — Employee Benefits
Subject: Labor and employment
Date: 2009-09-10 00:00:00

Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 - (Sec. 2) Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 to repeal the requirement that a state be in an extended benefit period before it augments the Tier-2 amounts in an applicant's emergency unemployment compensation account (EUCA) for a benefit year. (Continues to require, as under current law, that the amount established in an individual's EUCA be exhausted before it can be augmented.) Revises the formula for making such Tier-2 credits. Increases the figures in the formula (the lesser of which shall be the amount credited): (1) from 50% to 54% of the total amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable to the individual during the benefit year; and (2) from 13 to 14 times the individual's average weekly benefit amount for the benefit year. Repeals the formula for determining if a state is in an extended benefit period. (Sec. 3) Requires an additional Tier-3 deposit to an individual's EUCA, using the current formula for the Tier-2 period, if at the time that the amount established under this Act is exhausted, or at any time thereafter, the individual's state is in an extended benefit period. Prescribes a formula for determining if a state is in an extended benefit period. Allows application of the Tier-3 augmentation to the individual's EUCA only once. (Sec. 4) Requires an additional Tier-4 augmentation as well if the individual's EUCA after the Tier-3 augmentation is again exhausted and the state is still in an extended benefit period. Decreases the figures in the formula for the Tier-4 period (the lesser of which shall be the amount credited): (1) from 50% to 24% of the total amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable to the individual during the benefit year; and (2) from 13 to 6 times the individual's average weekly benefit amount for the benefit year. Prescribes a formula for determining if a state is in an extended benefit period. Allows application of the Tier-4 augmentation to the individual's EUCA only once. (Sec. 5) Authorizes a state to pay extended compensation to an otherwise eligible individual before any emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) is paid under this Act, if the individual claimed extended compensation for at least one week of unemployment after the initial exhaustion of EUC. Authorizes a state to elect to pay Tier-3 EUC before payment of an increased Tier-2 EUC until the state determines that such increased Tier-2 EUC may be paid without undue delay. (Sec. 7) Amends the Social Security Act to revise state law requirements for a state to qualify for unemployment compensation modernization incentive payments. Prohibits a state's law from disqualifying an individual from regular unemployment compensation for separating from employment if that separation is for any compelling family reason such as sexual assault and/or, as under current law, domestic violence. (Sec. 8) Requires disregard in the consideration of an individual's income and assets with respect to benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) of the monthly equivalent of any additional compensation paid to the individual by reason of the Assistance for Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act. (Sec. 9) Amends the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, as amended by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to extend through December 31, 2010, the temporary increase in extended unemployment benefits for employees with 10 or more years of service and for those with less than 10. Makes additional appropriations to cover such cost. Amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to make additional appropriations to the Railroad Retirement Board to cover administrative expenses associated with the payment of such additional extended benefits. (Sec. 10) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the .2% surtax under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) through the first six months of 2011. (Sec. 11) Extends the first-time homebuyer tax credit through April 30, 2010. Allows a further extension through June 30, 2010, for taxpayers who enter into a written, binding contract for the purchase of a principal residence before May 1, 2010. Extends provisions allowing a waiver of recapture amounts for residences sold prior to the required holding period to any residence purchased after December 31, 2008. Allows taxpayers who purchase a principal residence after December 31, 2008, to treat, for tax purposes, the purchase of such residence as having been made on December 31 of the previous year. Allows homeowners who have owned a principal residence for five consecutive years during an eight-year period a first-time homebuyer tax credit of $6,500 for the purchase of a subsequent principal residence. Increases the income limitation for eligibility for the credit. Disqualifies for the credit residential purchases exceeding $800,000. Allows a waiver of recapture requirements for such credit to members of the uniformed services, members of the Foreign Service, or employees of the intelligence community on official extended duty service. Extends the first-time homebuyer credit through April 30, 2011, for members of the uniformed services, members of the Foreign Service, or employees of the intelligence community who are on official extend duty outside the United States for at least 90 days between January 1, 2009, and April 30, 2010. Disqualifies for the credit a taxpayer who is the dependent of another taxpayer. (Sec. 12) Requires taxpayers who claim the first-time homebuyer tax credit to: (1) be at least 18 years old at the time of purchase of an eligible principal residence; and (2) attach a copy of the settlement statement for purchasing the residence to their tax return. (Sec. 13) Allows a taxpayer election to extend to five years the carryback period for net operating losses (NOL) incurred in 2008 or 2009. Limits the amount of a NOL carried back to the fifth taxable year to 50% of taxable income, except for small business taxpayers with gross receipts of $15 million or less. Suspends the 90% limitation on the use of any NOL for purposes of computing the alternative minimum tax (AMT) attributable to such extended carryback period. Allows an extended carryback period for losses incurred in 2008 and 2009 from operations of life insurance companies. Disqualifies the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), certain recipients of federal assistance under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), and affiliated entities from making an election to extend a NOL carryback period. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe rules to prevent taxpayer abuse of the NOL carryback election. (Sec. 14) Extends the tax exclusion for payments made under the Department of Defense (DOD) Homeowners Assistance Program to offset adverse effects on housing values resulting from military base realignments or closure to similar payments authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009. (Sec. 15) Delays until 2018 the application of special rules for the worldwide allocation of interest for purposes of computing the limitation on the foreign tax credit. (Sec. 16) Increases the penalty for failure to file a partnership or S corporation tax return. (Sec. 17) Requires tax return preparers who expect to file more than 10 tax returns to file such returns electronically. (Sec. 18) Increases by 33% the percentage of estimated tax required to be paid in the third quarter of 2014 by corporations with assets of not less than $1 billion.