Sec. 20204. Payroll credit for certain pandemic-related employee benefit expenses paid by employers
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/bill/116/hr/6800/ih/section-20204·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
In the case of an employer, there shall be allowed as a credit against applicable employment taxes for each calendar quarter an amount equal to the applicable percentage of the qualified pandemic-related employee benefit expenses paid by such employer with respect to such calendar quarter. The qualified pandemic-related employee benefit expenses which may be taken into account under subsection
(a)with respect to any employee for any calendar quarter shall not exceed $5,000. 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 employer for such calendar quarter. 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. 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. The qualified pandemic-related employee benefit expenses taken into account under this section by any employer shall be reduced by any amounts provided by and Federal, State, or local government for purposes of making or reimbursing such expenses. For purposes of this section, the term qualified pandemic-related employee benefit expenses means any amount paid to or for the benefit of an employee in the employment of the employer if— such amount is excludible from the gross income of the employee under section 139 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 by reason of being a qualified disaster relief payment described in subsection (b)(1) of such section with respect to a qualified disaster described in subsection (c)(2) of such section which was declared by reason of COVID–19, and the employer elects (at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may provide) to treat such amount as a qualified pandemic-related employee benefit expense. For purposes of this section— The term applicable percentage means— 50 percent, in the case of qualified pandemic-related employee benefit expenses paid with respect to an essential employee, and 30 percent, in any other case. The term essential employee means, with respect to any employer for any calendar quarter, any employee of such employer if a substantial portion of the services performed by such employee for such employer during such calendar quarter are essential work (as defined in the COVID–19 Heroes Fund Act except without regard to the time period during which such work is performed). No credit shall be allowed under this section to any employer for any calendar quarter if qualified pandemic-related employee benefit expenses are provided by such employer to employees for such calendar quarter in a manner which discriminates in favor of highly compensated individuals (within the meaning of section 125) as to eligibility for, or the amount of, such benefit expenses. An employer may elect with respect to any calendar quarter to apply this paragraph separately with respect to essential employees and with respect to all other employees. For purposes of chapter 1 of such Code, no deduction or credit (other than the credit allowed under this section) shall be allowed for so much of qualified pandemic-related employee benefit expenses as is equal to the credit allowed under this section. Any credit allowed under this section shall be treated as a credit described in section 3511(d)(2) of such Code. For purposes of this section, the term applicable employment taxes means the following: The taxes imposed under section 3111(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 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. For purposes of this section, the term Secretary means the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s delegate. Any term used in this section which is also used in chapter 21 or 22 of such Code shall have the same meaning as when used in such chapter (as the case may be). For purposes of subparagraph
(A)(other than with respect to subsection (b)(2)), section 3121(b) of such Code shall be applied without regard to paragraphs (1), (5), (6), (7), (8), (10), (13), (18), (19), and
(22)thereof (except with respect to services performed in a penal institution by an inmate thereof) and section 3231(e)(1) shall be applied without regard to the sentence that begins Such term does not include remuneration . The credit under this section shall not be allowed to the Federal Government or any agency or instrumentality thereof. Paragraph
(1)shall not apply to any organization described in section 501(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such Code. 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. The Secretary shall prescribe such regulations or other guidance as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this section, including regulations or other guidance— to allow the advance payment of the credit determined under subsection (a), subject to the limitations provided in this section, based on such information as the Secretary shall require, 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, 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 with respect to the application of the credit to third party payors (including professional employer organizations, certified professional employer organizations, or agents under section 3504 of such Code), including to allow such payors to submit documentation necessary to substantiate eligibility for, and the amount of, the credit allowed under this section. This section shall apply only to qualified pandemic-related employee benefit expenses paid after March 12, 2020, and before January 1, 2021. 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.
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- 45 USC 231n–1(a)
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Sec. 20204
Payroll credit for certain pandemic-related employee benefit expenses paid by employers
Cite45 USC 231n–1(a)
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