[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3773 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3773

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reward those Americans 
       who provide volunteer services in times of national need.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 14, 2005

  Mrs. Lowey (for herself, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Markey, Mr. 
Etheridge, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Owens, Mr. 
 Serrano, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, 
and Mr. Delahunt) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                    the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reward those Americans 
       who provide volunteer services in times of national need.

    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 to Individuals Delivering 
for America Act of 2005'' or the ``AID for America Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. EMPLOYER CREDIT FOR WAGES PAID TO EMPLOYEES WHO PERFORM 
              VOLUNTEER DISASTER RELIEF SERVICES.

    (a) In General.--Subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to business related 
credits) is amended by inserting after section 45M the following new 
section:

``SEC. 45N. EMPLOYER CREDIT FOR WAGES PAID TO EMPLOYEES WHO PERFORM 
              VOLUNTEER DISASTER RELIEF SERVICES.

    ``(a) In General.--For purposes of section 38, the employee 
disaster relief volunteer services credit determined under this section 
for the taxable year is an amount equal to 50 percent of the wages paid 
or incurred by the taxpayer during the taxable year to any employee of 
the taxpayer while such employee is performing qualified disaster 
relief services.
    ``(b) Limitations.--
            ``(1) Maximum credit per employee.--The credit determined 
        under this section with respect to services performed by an 
        employee shall not exceed $50 per day period of qualified 
        disaster relief services.
            ``(2) Minimum period of creditable service.--A day of 
        qualified disaster relief services of an employee may be taken 
        into account under this section only if--
                    ``(A) such services are performed for at least 8 
                hours of such day, and
                    ``(B) such day is within a 7-day period on at least 
                5 days of which the requirement of subparagraph (A) is 
                met.
            ``(3) Maximum period of creditable service.--The period of 
        qualified disaster relief services performed by an employee 
        which may be taken into account under this section for the 
        taxable year shall not exceed 90 days.
    ``(c) Employer Must Maintain Wages and Benefits.--No credit shall 
be determined under this section for wages paid or incurred by the 
taxpayer during any period unless the wages and benefits provided by 
the taxpayer for such period are the same as they would be were the 
employee not performing qualified disaster relief services and were 
performing such employee's normal services for the employer.
    ``(d) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) Qualified disaster relief services.--The term 
        `qualified disaster relief services' means any service 
        furnished by an employee of the taxpayer if--
                    ``(A) the services are performed for an 
                organization--
                            ``(i) which is determined by the Federal 
                        Emergency Management Agency as a bona fide 
                        disaster relief organization, and
                            ``(ii) which is determined by the Secretary 
                        to have adequate recordkeeping and reporting 
                        procedures to make determinations under this 
                        section,
                    ``(B) the services are performed in the area of a 
                Presidentially declared disaster (as defined in section 
                1003(h)(3)) or in support of recovery efforts from such 
                a disaster and are so certified by such organization, 
                and
                    ``(C) the employee receives no additional 
                compensation for performing such services and the 
                employer receives no compensation for such services.
            ``(2) Wages.--The term `wages' has the meaning given to 
        such term by section 51(c).
    ``(e) Controlled Groups.--Rules similar to the rules of section 
1397(b) shall apply for purposes of this section.''
    (b) Denial of Double Benefit.--Subsection (a) of section 280C of 
such Code is amended by inserting ``45N(a),'' after ``45A(a),''.
    (c) Credit Made Part of General Business Credit.--
            (1) In general.--Subsection (b) of section 38 of such Code 
        (relating to current year business credit) is amended by 
        striking ``plus'' at the end of paragraph (23), by striking the 
        period at the end of paragraph (24) and inserting ``, plus'', 
        and by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph:
            ``(25) the employee disaster relief volunteer services 
        credit determined under section 45N(a).''.
            (2) Deduction for certain unused business credits.--
        Subsection (c) of section 196 of such Code is amended by 
        striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (12), by striking the 
        period at the end of paragraph (13) and inserting ``, and'', 
        and by adding after paragraph (13) the following new paragraph:
            ``(14) the employee disaster relief volunteer services 
        credit determined under section 45N(a).''.
    (d) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subpart D of 
part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 45M the following new 
item:

``Sec. 45N. Employer credit for wages paid to employees who perform 
                            volunteer disaster relief services.''.
    (e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to services performed after August 24, 2005, in taxable years 
ending after such date.
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