Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “American Unemployed Worker Investment Act of 2015”.
American Unemployed Worker Investment Act of 2015
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.
Sec. 2 Extension of work opportunity tax credit
Sec. 3 Credit for employers who hire individuals receiving unemployment compensation
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.”
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.”
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 (”.
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.”
Credit made available to tax-Exempt employers in certain circumstances—
In general— Section 3111(e) of such Code is amended—
by striking “qualified veterans” in the subsection heading and inserting “qualified individuals”,
by striking “qualified veteran” each place it appears in the text and inserting “qualified individual”, and
by striking “qualified veterans” in paragraph (2) and inserting “qualified individuals”.
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)).”
Conforming amendment— Section 52(c)(2) of such Code is amended—
by inserting “and qualified unemployment compensation recipients” after “qualified veterans” in the heading, and
by inserting “and qualified unemployment compensation recipients” after “qualified veterans” in the text.
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.