[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4178 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4178

     To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the work 
 opportunity tax credit and to allow small employers a credit against 
 income tax for hiring individuals receiving unemployment compensation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 3, 2015

 Mr. Lowenthal (for himself, Ms. Kuster, and Mr. Cardenas) 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 extend the work 
 opportunity tax credit and to allow small employers a credit against 
 income tax for hiring individuals receiving unemployment compensation.

    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 ``American Unemployed Worker 
Investment Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF WORK OPPORTUNITY TAX CREDIT.

    (a) In General.--Section 51(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by striking ``December 31, 2014'' and inserting 
``December 31, 2017''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to individuals who begin work for the employer after December 31, 
2014.

SEC. 3. CREDIT FOR EMPLOYERS WHO HIRE INDIVIDUALS RECEIVING 
              UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION.

    (a) In General.--Section 51(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (defining members of targeted group) is amended by striking ``or'' 
at the end of subparagraph (H), by striking the period at the end of 
subparagraph (I) and inserting ``, or'', and by adding at the end the 
following new subparagraph:
                    ``(J) in the case of a small business employer, a 
                qualified unemployment compensation recipient.''.
    (b) Qualified Unemployment Compensation Recipient.--Section 51(d) 
of such Code is amended by redesignating paragraphs (11) through (14) 
as paragraphs (12) through (15), respectively, and by inserting after 
paragraph (10) the following new paragraph:
            ``(11) Qualified unemployment compensation recipient; small 
        business employer.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `qualified unemployment 
                compensation recipient' means any individual who is 
                certified by the designated local agency as--
                            ``(i) not being a student for at least 6 
                        months during the 1-year period ending on the 
                        hiring date,
                            ``(ii) being in receipt of unemployment 
                        compensation under State or Federal law on the 
                        hiring date, and
                            ``(iii) having a hiring date during the 2-
                        year period which begins on the date of the 
                        enactment of this paragraph.
                    ``(B) Small business employer.--For purposes of 
                this paragraph, the term `small business employer' 
                means, with respect to any hiring date, any employer 
                which employs more than 10 but fewer than 25 full-time 
                equivalent employees throughout the taxable year.
                    ``(C) Student.--For purposes of this paragraph, a 
                student is an individual enrolled at least half-time in 
                a program that leads to a degree, certificate, or other 
                recognized educational credential for at least 6 months 
                (whether or not consecutive) during the 1-year period 
                ending on the hiring date.''.
    (c) Maximum $4,000 Credit Per Employee.--Section 51(b)(3) of such 
Code is amended by inserting ``$10,000 per year in the case of any 
individual who is a qualified unemployment compensation recipient by 
reason of subsection (d)(11),'' after ``$6,000 per year (''.
    (d) Denial of Credit Unless Employment Full-Time for 1 Year.--
Section 51(i)(3) of such Code (relating to individuals not meeting 
minimum employment periods) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subparagraph:
                    ``(C) Special rules for qualified unemployment 
                compensation recipients.--No wages shall be taken into 
                account under subsection (a) with respect to a 
                qualified unemployment compensation recipient unless--
                            ``(i) such individual is employed by the 
                        employer for not less than 35 hours per week 
                        for not less than 1 year, and
                            ``(ii) the number of full-time equivalent 
                        employees of the employer is increased by 1 for 
                        at least 1 year by reason of such individual's 
                        employment by the employer.''.
    (e) Credit Made Available to Tax-Exempt Employers in Certain 
Circumstances.--
            (1) In general.--Section 3111(e) of such Code is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``Qualified Veterans'' in the 
                subsection heading and inserting ``Qualified 
                Individuals'',
                    (B) by striking ``qualified veteran'' each place it 
                appears in the text and inserting ``qualified 
                individual'', and
                    (C) by striking ``qualified veterans'' in paragraph 
                (2) and inserting ``qualified individuals''.
            (2) Qualified individual defined.--Section 3111(e)(5)(B) of 
        such Code is amended to read as follows:
                    ``(B) the term `qualified individual' means--
                            ``(i) any qualified veteran (as defined in 
                        section 51(d)(3)), and
                            ``(ii) any qualified unemployment 
                        compensation recipient (as defined in section 
                        51(d)(11)).''.
            (3) Conforming amendment.--Section 52(c)(2) of such Code is 
        amended--
                    (A) by inserting ``and qualified unemployment 
                compensation recipients'' after ``qualified veterans'' 
                in the heading, and
                    (B) by inserting ``and qualified unemployment 
                compensation recipients'' after ``qualified veterans'' 
                in the text.
    (f) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to individuals who begin work for the employer after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
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