[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 194 (Wednesday, November 29, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7475-S7476]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 1643. Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. Durbin, and Mrs. Feinstein)
submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R.
1, to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the
concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018; which was
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. __. PATRIOT EMPLOYER TAX CREDIT.
(a) In General.--Subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of
chapter 1, as amended by section 13404 of this Act, is
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``SEC. 45T. PATRIOT EMPLOYER TAX CREDIT.
``(a) Determination of Amount.--
``(1) In general.--For purposes of section 38, the Patriot
employer credit determined under this section with respect to
any taxpayer who is a Patriot employer for any taxable year
shall be equal to 10 percent of the qualified wages paid or
incurred by the Patriot employer.
``(2) Limitation.--The amount of qualified wages which may
be taken into account under paragraph (1) with respect to any
employee for any taxable year shall not exceed $15,000.
``(b) Patriot Employer.--
``(1) In general.--For purposes of subsection (a), the term
`Patriot employer' means, with respect to any taxable year,
any taxpayer--
``(A) which--
``(i) maintains its headquarters in the United States if
the taxpayer (or any predecessor) has ever been headquartered
in the United States, and
``(ii) is not (and no predecessor of which is) an
expatriated entity (as defined in section 7874(a)(2)) for the
taxable year or any preceding taxable year ending after March
4, 2003,
``(B) with respect to which no assessable payment has been
imposed under section 4980H with respect to any month
occurring during the taxable year,
``(C) provides employees with--
``(i) paid sick leave, or
``(ii) paid family and medical leave, and
``(D) in the case of--
``(i) a taxpayer which employs an average of more than 50
employees on business days during the taxable year, which--
``(I) provides compensation for at least 90 percent of its
employees for services provided by such employees during the
taxable year at an hourly rate (or equivalent thereof) not
less than an amount equal to 218 percent of the Federal
poverty level for an individual for the calendar year in
which the taxable year begins divided by 1,750,
``(II) meets the retirement plan requirements of subsection
(c) with respect to at least 90 percent of its employees
providing services during the taxable year who are not highly
compensated employees, and
``(III) meets the additional requirements of subparagraphs
(A) and (B) of paragraph (2), or
``(ii) any other taxpayer, which meets the requirements of
either subclause (I) or (II) of clause (i) for the taxable
year.
``(2) Additional requirements for large employers.--
``(A) United states employment.--The requirements of this
subparagraph are met for any taxable year if--
``(i) in any case in which the taxpayer increases the
number of employees performing substantially all of their
services for the taxable year outside the United States, the
taxpayer either--
``(I) increases the number of employees performing
substantially all of their services inside the United States
by an amount not less than the increase in such number for
employees outside the United States, or
[[Page S7476]]
``(II) has a percentage increase in such employees inside
the United States which is not less than the percentage
increase in such employees outside the United States,
``(ii) in any case in which the taxpayer decreases the
number of employees performing substantially all of their
services for the taxable year inside the United States, the
taxpayer either--
``(I) decreases the number of employees performing
substantially all of their services outside the United States
by an amount not less than the decrease in such number for
employees inside the United States, or
``(II) has a percentage decrease in employees outside the
United States which is not less than the percentage decrease
in such employees inside the United States, and
``(iii) there is not a decrease in the number of employees
performing substantially all of their services for the
taxable year inside the United States by reason of the
taxpayer contracting out such services to persons who are not
employees of the taxpayer.
``(B) Treatment of individuals in the uniformed services
and the disabled.--The requirements of this subparagraph are
met for any taxable year if--
``(i) the taxpayer provides differential wage payments (as
defined in section 3401(h)(2)) to each employee described in
section 3401(h)(2)(A) for any period during the taxable year
in an amount not less than the difference between the wages
which would have been received from the employer during such
period and the amount of pay and allowances which the
employee receives for service in the uniformed services
during such period, and
``(ii) the taxpayer has in place at all times during the
taxable year a written policy for the recruitment of
employees who have served in the uniformed services or who
are disabled.
``(3) Special rules for applying the minimum wage and
retirement plan requirements.--
``(A) Minimum wage.--In determining whether the minimum
wage requirements of paragraph (1)(D)(i)(I) are met with
respect to 90 percent of a taxpayer's employees for any
taxable year--
``(i) a taxpayer may elect to exclude from such
determination apprentices or learners that an employer may
exclude under the regulations under section 14(a) of the Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938, and
``(ii) if a taxpayer meets the requirements of paragraph
(2)(B)(i) with respect to providing differential wage
payments to any employee for any period (without regard to
whether such requirements apply to the taxpayer), the hourly
rate (or equivalent thereof) for such payments shall be
determined on the basis of the wages which would have been
paid by the employer during such period if the employee had
not been providing service in the uniformed services.
``(B) Retirement plan.--In determining whether the
retirement plan requirements of paragraph (1)(D)(i)(II) are
met with respect to 90 percent of a taxpayer's employees for
any taxable year, a taxpayer may elect to exclude from such
determination--
``(i) employees not meeting the age or service requirements
under section 410(a)(1) (or such lower age or service
requirements as the employer provides), and
``(ii) employees described in section 410(b)(3).
``(c) Retirement Plan Requirements.--
``(1) In general.--The requirements of this subsection are
met for any taxable year with respect to an employee of the
taxpayer who is not a highly compensated employee if the
employee is eligible to participate in 1 or more applicable
eligible retirement plans maintained by the employer for a
plan year ending with or within the taxable year.
``(2) Applicable eligible retirement plan.--For purposes of
this subsection, the term `applicable eligible retirement
plan' means an eligible retirement plan which, with respect
to the plan year described in paragraph (1), is either--
``(A) a defined contribution plan which--
``(i) requires the employer to make nonelective
contributions of at least 5 percent of the compensation of
the employee, or
``(ii) both--
``(I) includes an eligible automatic contribution
arrangement (as defined in section 414(w)(3)) under which the
uniform percentage described in section 414(w)(3)(B) is at
least 5 percent, and
``(II) requires the employer to make matching contributions
of 100 percent of the elective deferrals (as defined in
section 414(u)(2)(C)) of the employee to the extent such
deferrals do not exceed the percentage specified by the plan
(not less than 5 percent) of the employee's compensation, or
``(B) a defined benefit plan--
``(i) with respect to which the accrued benefit of the
employee derived from employer contributions, when expressed
as an annual retirement benefit, is not less than the product
of--
``(I) the lesser of 2 percent multiplied by the employee's
years of service (determined under the rules of paragraphs
(4), (5), and (6) of section 411(a)) with the employer or 20
percent, multiplied by
``(II) the employee's final average pay, or
``(ii) which is an applicable defined benefit plan (as
defined in section 411(a)(13)(B))--
``(I) which meets the interest credit requirements of
section 411(b)(5)(B)(i) with respect to the plan year, and
``(II) under which the employee receives a pay credit for
the plan year which is not less than 5 percent of
compensation.
``(3) Definitions and special rules.--For purposes of this
subsection--
``(A) Eligible retirement plan.--The term `eligible
retirement plan' has the meaning given such term by section
402(c)(8)(B), except that in the case of an account or
annuity described in clause (i) or (ii) thereof, such term
shall only include an account or annuity which is a
simplified employee pension (as defined in section 408(k)).
``(B) Final average pay.--For purposes of paragraph
(2)(B)(i)(II), final average pay shall be determined using
the period of consecutive years (not exceeding 5) during
which the employee had the greatest compensation from the
taxpayer.
``(C) Alternative plan designs.--The Secretary may
prescribe regulations for a taxpayer to meet the requirements
of this subsection through a combination of defined
contribution plans or defined benefit plans described in
paragraph (1) or through a combination of both such types of
plans.
``(D) Plans must meet requirements without taking into
account social security and similar contributions and
benefits.--A rule similar to the rule of section 416(e) shall
apply.
``(d) Qualified Wages and Compensation.--For purposes of
this section--
``(1) In general.--The term `qualified wages' means wages
(as defined in section 51(c), determined without regard to
paragraph (4) thereof) paid or incurred by the Patriot
employer during the taxable year to employees--
``(A) who perform substantially all of their services for
such Patriot employer inside the United States, and
``(B) with respect to whom--
``(i) in the case of a Patriot employer which employs an
average of more than 50 employees on business days during the
taxable year, the requirements of subclauses (I) and (II) of
subsection (b)(1)(D)(i) are met, and
``(ii) in the case of any other Patriot employer, the
requirements of either subclause (I) or (II) of subsection
(b)(1)(D)(i) are met.
``(2) Special rules for agricultural labor and railway
labor.--Rules similar to the rules of section 51(h) shall
apply.
``(3) Compensation.--For purposes of subsections
(b)(1)(D)(i)(I) and (c), the term `compensation' has the same
meaning as qualified wages, except that section 51(c)(2)
shall be disregarded in determining the amount of such wages.
``(e) Aggregation Rules.--For purposes of this section--
``(1) In general.--All persons treated as a single employer
under subsection (a) or (b) of section 52 shall be treated as
a single taxpayer.
``(2) Special rules for certain requirements.--For purposes
of applying paragraphs (1)(A) and (2)(A) of subsection (b)--
``(A) the determination under subsections (a) and (b) of
section 52 for purposes of paragraph (1) shall be made
without regard to section 1563(b)(2)(C) (relating to
exclusion of foreign corporations), and
``(B) if any person treated as a single taxpayer under this
subsection (after application of subparagraph (A)), or any
predecessor of such person, was an expatriated entity (as
defined in section 7874(a)(2)) for any taxable year ending
after March 4, 2003, then all persons treated as a single
taxpayer with such person shall be treated as expatriated
entities.
``(f) Election To Have Credit Not Apply.--
``(1) In general.--A taxpayer may elect to have this
section not apply for any taxable year.
``(2) Time for making election.--An election under
paragraph (1) for any taxable year may be made (or revoked)
at any time before the expiration of the 3-year period
beginning on the last date prescribed by law for filing the
return for such taxable year (determined without regard to
extensions).
``(3) Manner of making election.--An election under
paragraph (1) (or revocation thereof) shall be made in such
manner as the Secretary may by regulations prescribe.''.
(b) Allowance as General Business Credit.--Section 38(b),
as amended by section 13404 of this Act, is amended by
striking ``plus'' at the end of paragraph (36), by striking
the period at the end of paragraph (37) and inserting ``,
plus'', and by adding at the end the following:
``(38) in the case of a Patriot employer (as defined in
section 45T(b)) for any taxable year, the Patriot employer
credit determined under section 45T(a).''.
(c) Denial of Double Benefit.--Subsection (a) of section
280C, as amended by section 13404 of this Act, is amended by
inserting ``45T(a),'' after ``45S(a)''.
(d) Adjustment to Corporate Tax Rate.--Section 11(b), as
amended by section 13001 of this Act, is amended by striking
``20 percent'' and inserting ``25 percent''.
(e) Effective Date.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided under paragraph (2),
the amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable
years beginning after December 31, 2017.
(2) Corporate tax rate.--The amendment made by subsection
(d) shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31,
2018.
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