Two-Year Tax Extender Bill Sent as House Amendment

The proposal is a fallback measure in case broader bill transferring permanence to extenders fails.

December 09, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) sent to the House Rules Committee last night a two-year tax extenders bill tabled as a House amendment to a Senate amendment to H.R. 34. The measure, “Tax Increase Prevention and Real Estate Investment Act of 2015,” is basically a fall back bill to be passed in case no deal can be reached on a broader bill making some extenders permanent.

The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) will be reauthorized retroactively until the end of 2016 in section 119 of the bill, and a new target group, “Long-term unemployment recipient,” will be added for hires in this category made after December 31, 2015.

WOTC reauthorization extends the veterans hiring credits of the VOW To Hire Heroes Act for the same two-year period. The Indian Employment tax credit and Empowerment Zone designations and tax credits are extended similarly, and a new definition of empowerment zone resident is added in section 139 of the bill.

The Republican leaders have planned all along to reauthorize the extenders for two years if no deal is reached with the White House on a broader measure making some permanent. Sending this bill to the House Rules Committee is the first step in the process of passing it if negotiators give up on efforts to reach a broader bi-partisan deal. In those talks, WOTC is allowed a five-year extension, which NACS supports making permanent. 

The present bill could be superseded by a last-minute deal, but with time in the session running out, House Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) move to ready this bill for passage is understandable. If this bill passes, it means the future of the tax extenders is once again kicked down the road, with another extenders bill next year.

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