[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6354 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6354

   To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a one-time 
  emergency tax credit to small businesses to cover rent and mortgage 
                               payments.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 23, 2020

   Mr. Kind (for himself, Mr. Rice of South Carolina, Ms. Sewell of 
Alabama, and Mr. Kelly of Pennsylvania) 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 provide a one-time 
  emergency tax credit to small businesses to cover rent and mortgage 
                               payments.

    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 ``Small Business Assistance Act of 
2020''.

SEC. 2. TAX CREDIT TO SMALL BUSINESSES TO COVER RENT AND MORTGAGE 
              PAYMENTS.

    (a) Allowance of Credit.--
            (1) In general.--In the case of an eligible small business, 
        there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by 
        chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for the first 
        taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2019, an amount 
        equal to the sum of any qualified rent or mortgage expenditures 
        which--
                    (A) relate to any real property which is primarily 
                used in a trade or business of such eligible small 
                business which is a qualified trade or business (as 
                defined in section 199A(d)), and
                    (B) are paid or incurred by such eligible small 
                business during the first 4 months of 2020.
            (2) Limitation.--The amount of the credit allowable to a 
        taxpayer under paragraph (1) for any taxable year shall not 
        exceed $50,000.
    (b) Eligible Small Business.--For purposes of this section--
            (1) In general.--The term ``eligible small business'' 
        means, with respect to calendar year 2019, an employer who has 
        employed an average of not greater than 500 full-time employees 
        on business days during such calendar year.
            (2) Application of aggregation rule for employers.--All 
        persons treated as a single employer under subsection (b), (c), 
        (m), or (o) of section 414 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
        shall be treated as 1 employer.
    (c) Qualified Rent or Mortgage Expenditures.--For purposes of this 
section, the term ``qualified rent or mortgage expenditures'' means an 
expenditure for rent or mortgage payments (not including any amounts 
attributable to utilities) that are paid pursuant to a contract entered 
into before the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (d) Expedited Amended Return Process.--In the case of any eligible 
small business which has timely filed an amendment to the tax return 
for such business for the taxable year described in subsection (a) for 
the sole purpose of claiming the credit allowed under this section, the 
Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary's delegate) shall establish 
a separate and expedited process for reviewing and processing such 
amended returns.
    (e) Regulations.--The Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary's 
delegate) shall prescribe such regulations or guidance as may be 
necessary to carry out the provisions of this section, including 
regulations and guidance to prevent and identify fraud through the use 
of relevant information submitted by third parties which relates to the 
rent or mortgage expenditures claimed by a taxpayer for purposes of the 
credit allowed under this section.
    (f) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect on the date of 
enactment of this Act.
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