Bill Summary
The "Assistance and Gratitude for Coronavirus Heroes in Agribusiness who are Invaluable to the Nation Act" (AG CHAIN Act) is a proposed bill in the United States that provides an exclusion from gross income for certain workers. This means that certain workers would not have to pay taxes on a portion of their income. The bill defines "qualified employee" as someone who is an essential food and agriculture employee and is working on their employer's premises, traveling to and from work, or performing tasks at a customer's location. The bill also states that the exclusion from gross income cannot exceed $25,000. This exclusion would apply during the period of February 15, 2020 to June 15, 2020, and can be extended for up to three additional months if the Secretary of the Treasury deems it necessary. In addition, the bill proposes a temporary suspension of payroll taxes for employers, meaning that they would not have to pay taxes on a portion of their employees' wages. This suspension would also apply during the same period and can be extended for up to three additional months. The bill also includes provisions for transferring funds to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Trust Fund and Social Security Equivalent Benefit Account to offset the reduction in tax revenue. The bill would go into effect for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2019.
Possible Impacts
1. This bill could affect qualified employees working in essential food and agriculture industries by providing them with an exclusion from gross income for specified income. This would result in a higher take-home pay for these workers during the applicable period.
2. The bill could also affect employers by suspending payroll taxes for a certain period, resulting in a decrease in their tax burden. This could potentially free up more resources for employers to use towards employee wages or other business needs.
3. The bill could also potentially affect the Social Security and Railroad Retirement Trust Funds by causing a decrease in revenue due to the suspension of payroll taxes. This could potentially impact the funds' ability to pay out benefits to current and future recipients.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6841 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6841
To provide an exclusion from gross income for certain workers, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 12, 2020
Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania (for himself and Mr. Evans) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide an exclusion from gross income for certain workers, and for
other purposes.
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 and Gratitude for
Coronavirus Heroes in Agribusiness who are Invaluable to the Nation
Act'' or the ``AG CHAIN Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act--
(1) Qualified employee.--The term ``qualified employee''
means any individual who is--
(A) an essential food and agriculture employee, and
(B) working on his or her employer's premises or on
duty delivering to customers or performing tasks on the
premises of a customer, traveling to and from such
locations, or otherwise at a prescribed work place that
is not his or her home or a remote worksite.
(2) Essential food and agriculture employee.--The term
``essential food and agriculture employee'' means--
(A) an employee who provides services at a business
that--
(i) is assigned a North American Industry
Classification System code beginning with 4451,
4471, 4247, 7225, 72233, 722330, 72331, or
722310, and
(ii) is located in a county that has at
least one confirmed case of COVID-19, or
(B) an employee identified as a member of the food
and agriculture workforce in the guidance issued by the
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on
April 17, 2020, entitled ``Guidance on the Essential
Critical Infrastructure Workforce: Ensuring Community
and National Resilience in COVID-19 Response Version
3.0'' (or any successor guidance).
SEC. 3. EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME FOR CERTAIN WORKERS.
(a) In General.--For purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
gross income shall not include specified income of any qualified
employee.
(b) Limitation.--The aggregate amount not included in the gross
income of any individual by reason of subsection (a) shall not exceed
$25,000.
(c) Applicable Period.--The term ``applicable period'' means the
period beginning on February 15, 2020, and ending on June 15, 2020.
(d) Specified Income.--For purposes of this section, the term
``specified income'' means--
(1) if the services described in section 1(2) are provided
as an employee, the wages (as defined in section 3121(a) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 determined without regard to
paragraph (1) thereof) received by the qualified employee for
the applicable period, and
(2) in any other case, the income of the qualified employee
which is properly allocable to the services described in
section 1(2) which are provided by such qualified employee
during the applicable period.
(e) Extension.--The Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary's
delegate) may extend the applicable period for a period not to exceed 3
additional calendar months if the Secretary (or the Secretary's
delegate) determines that the emergency related to COVID-19 is likely
to be ongoing during such period. If such period is so extended, the
dollar amount in subsection (b) shall be increased by $6,250 for each
month of such extension (and a like rate of increase with respect to
any extension which is not a whole number of months).
SEC. 4. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF PAYROLL TAXES UP TO A CAP.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, with
respect to so much of the total wages (as defined in section 3121(a) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) of the qualified employees of an
employer as does not exceed $75,000--
(1) with respect to any taxable year which begins in the
payroll tax suspension period, the rate of tax under section
1401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall be 0
percent,
(2) with respect to remuneration received for pay periods
ending during the payroll tax suspension period, the rate of
tax under 3101(a) of such Code shall be 0 percent (including
for purposes of determining the applicable percentage under
sections 3201(a) and 3211(a)(1) of such Code), and
(3) with respect to remuneration paid for pay periods
ending during the payroll tax suspension period, the rate of
tax under section 3111(a) of such Code shall be 0 percent
(including for purposes of determining the applicable
percentage under section 3221(a) of such Code).
(b) Payroll Tax Suspension Period.--The term ``payroll tax
suspension period'' means the period beginning on February 15, 2020,
and ending on June 15, 2020.
(c) Employer Notification.--The Secretary of the Treasury (or the
Secretary's delegate) shall notify employers of the payroll tax
suspension period in any manner the Secretary (or the Secretary's
delegate) deems appropriate.
(d) Extension.--The Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary's
delegate) may extend the payroll tax suspension period for a period not
to exceed 3 additional calendar months if the Secretary (or the
Secretary's delegate) determines that the emergency related to COVID-19
is likely to be ongoing during such period. If such period is so
extended, the dollar amount in subsection (a) shall be increased by
$18,750 for each month of such extension (and a like rate of increase
with respect to any extension which is not a whole number of months).
(e) Transfer of Funds.--
(1) Transfers to federal old-age and survivors insurance
trust fund.--There are hereby appropriated to the Federal Old-
Age and Survivors Trust Fund and the Federal Disability
Insurance Trust Fund established under section 201 of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401) amounts equal to the
reduction in revenues to the Treasury by reason of the
application of subsection (a). Amounts appropriated by the
preceding sentence shall be transferred from the general fund
at such times and in such manner as to replicate to the extent
possible the transfers which would have occurred to such Trust
Fund had such amendments not been enacted.
(2) Transfers to social security equivalent benefit
account.--There are hereby appropriated to the Social Security
Equivalent Benefit Account established under section 15A(a) of
the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 231n-1(a))
amounts equal to the reduction in revenues to the Treasury by
reason of the application of subsection (a). Amounts
appropriated by the preceding sentence shall be transferred
from the general fund at such times and in such manner as to
replicate to the extent possible the transfers which would have
occurred to such Account had such amendments not been enacted.
(3) Coordination with other federal laws.--For purposes of
applying any provision of Federal law other than the provisions
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the rate of tax in effect
under section 3101(a) of such Code shall be determined without
regard to the reduction in such rate under this section.
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31,
2019.
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