,i #aafth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #fccg ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,march #bc1 #bjbj,mr4 ,budd introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,ways and ,means ,a ,,bill ,to amend the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf to create an epidemic tax credit1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,epidemic ,tax ,credit ,act of #bjbj4 #b4 ,epidemic tax credit 7a7 ,in general ,subpart ,d of part ,,iv of subchapter ,a of chapter #a of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf is amended by adding at the end the following new section3 #de,u4 ,epidemic credit 7a7 ,general rule ,for purposes of section #ch1 the epidemic credit for any taxable year is an amount equal to #ij percent of the amount of qualifying wages paid by a qualified employer to qualifying employees4 7b7 ,definitions ,for purposes of this section-- 7#a7 ,qualifying wages ,the term qualifying wages means wages paid to a qualifying employee who-- 7,a7 is on leave1 7,b7 does not come to the workplace1 and 7,c7 performs no substantial work for the employer4 7#b7 ,qualified ,employer ,the term qualified employer means any employer that is not a government employer4 7#c7 ,government employer ,the term government employer means-- 7,a7 the ,federal ,government1 7,b7 any ,state government1 7,c7 any government of a possession or territory of the ,united ,states1 7,d7 the ,government of the ,district of ,columbia1 7,e7 the government of any county1 city1 town1 township1 parish1 village1 or other general purpose political subdivision of a ,state1 7,f7 any ,indian ,tribal ,government 7as defined in section #ggja7;a77#dj771 7,g7 any foreign government1 or 7,h7 any international organization 7as defined in section #ggja7;a77#ah774 7#d7 ,tax-,exempt ,employer ,the term tax-exempt employer means-- 7,a7 any employer that is exempt from taxation pursuant to subchapter ,f of chapter #a of subtitle ,a1 or 7,b7 any other employer designated by the ,secretary as a tax-exempt employer for purposes of this section4 7#e7 ,qualifying ,employee ,the term qualifying employee means a person who-- 7,a7 has been an employee of the qualified employer for at least one pay period preceding the designation of the epidemic area where the person's workplace is located1 7,b7 normally performs substantially all of the person's work in a designated epidemic area1 7,c7 is not a part-time employee 7as defined in section #dihj;,e7d77#d77;,b771 and 7,d7 cannot1 given the nature of the person's employment1 reasonably be expected to telecommute4 7#f7 ,epidemic area ,the term epidemic area means any county designated as an epidemic area by the ,director of the ,centers for ,disease ,control and ,prevention4 7#g7 ,county ,for purposes of paragraph 7#f71 the term county means-- 7,a7 any county or parish that is a subdivision of a ,state1 7,b7 a city or other political subdivision that is functionally equivalent to a county or parish1 7,c7 a possession or territory of the ,united ,states1 or 7,d7 the ,district of ,columbia4 7c7 ,limitation 7#a7 ,maximum weekly wage creditable ,the amount of qualifying wages shall not exceed #b1jjj with respect to any calendar week for any qualifying employee4 7#b7 ,maximum leave period creditable ,the amount of leave that may be taken into account with respect to any qualifying employee under subsection 7a7 for any taxable year shall not exceed #h calendar weeks4 7d7 ,epidemic area designation 7#a7 ,designation ,the ,director of the ,centers for ,disease ,control and ,prevention may designate as an epidemic area any county within the ,united ,states provided that-- 7,a7 a public health emergency has been declared pursuant to section #bdg;d of title #db1 ,united ,states ,code1 7,b7 the ,director finds that a substantial number of cases of a communicable disease have occurred in the ,united ,states and that such communicable disease is reasonably expected to be life-threatening to at least one-half of #a percent of those that contract the disease1 7,c7 the ,director finds that risk of the introduction1 transmission1 or spread of such communicable disease will be substantially reduced by encouraging people not to come to work within the county1 and 7,d7 the ,director finds that a person or persons have been quarantined or otherwise isolated either within the county to be designated as an epidemic area1 or within a county geographically adjacent to the county to be designated as an epidemic area1 for the purpose of preventing the introduction1 transmission1 or spread of such communicable disease4 7#b7 ,epidemic ,area ,list ,so long as there are any designated epidemic areas1 the ,director shall maintain a list of designated epidemic areas which shall provide the name of each designated epidemic area1 the date on which the designation was made for each county and1 if removed from the list1 the date a county was removed from the list of designated epidemic areas4 ,the epidemic area list shall be published at least weekly in the ,federal ,register4 ,the epidemic area list shall be maintained and updated daily on the website of the ,centers for ,disease ,control and ,prevention4 7#c7 ,limitation ,a county shall maintain its status as a declared epidemic area until the earlier of-- 7,a7 a finding by the ,director that the county is no longer an epidemic area2 or 7,b7 #ij days after the declaration of the county as an epidemic area4 7e7 ,special ,rule for ,tax-,exempt ,employers 7#a7 ,tax-exempt employers eligible ,tax-exempt employers are eligible to receive the credit provided by this section notwithstanding their tax-exemption4 7#b7 ,application required ,application for payment of the epidemic credit to a tax-exempt employer shall be in such form and contain such information as the ,secretary shall prescribe4 ,any claim for credit under this subsection by a tax-exempt employer shall be filed within #f months after the date that the last qualifying wages were paid4 7#c7 ,payment ,on proof satisfactory to the ,secretary that the epidemic credit is due to a tax-exempt employer1 the ,secretary shall make payment to the tax-exempt employer4 7f7 ,effective date ,the amendment made by this section shall apply to wages paid on or after the date of the enactment of this ,act4 ,this section shall not apply to wages paid after ,december #ca1 #bjbj4 4 7b7 ,general ,business ,credit ,subsection 7b7 of section #ch is amended by striking the period at the end thereof1 by striking the word plus in paragraph #cb and by adding at the end thereof3 plus 7#cd7 the epidemic credit determined under section #de,u4 4