Today, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on (and pass) HR 5771– the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014. This will be Congress’ first solid step in some time toward passage of tax extenders. HOWEVER, in its current form the bill’s provisions fall short of expectations.
HR 5771 provides for a ONE-YEAR retroactive extension. That means that if the bill were also passed by the Senate without amendment, WOTC and other tax extenders would expire again on December 31, 2014 – just 28 days from now.
Fortunately, the Senate already has shown broad bipartisan support for the EXPIRE Act, which provides a 2-year retroactive extension. The EXPIRE Act additionally would expand WOTC eligibility to include workers who have been unemployed long-term.
Paul Suplizio, President of the WOTC Coalition, is urging coalition members and other interested parties to lobby their Senators. Ask them to amend HR 5771 with the language of the EXPIRE Act when the bill arrives from the House.
The following is published here with permission:
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From: “Paul Suplizio” <wotc@cox.net>
Subject: House To Vote This Afternoon On Tax Extenders And ABLE Act
December 3, 2014
The House will vote this afternoon on passage of H.R. 5771, the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014, and H.R. 647, the ABLE Act of 2014.
H.R. 5771 extends expired tax provisions, including present-law WOTC, VOW To Hire Heroes Act veterans tax credits, Empowerment Zone tax credits, and the Indian Employment Tax Credit, for 2014 retroactive to January 1.
H.R. 647, the ABLE Act of 2014, provides tax-free savings accounts for people with disabilities, and allows them to work without losing certain benefits.
Both bills enjoy bi-partisan support and passage is expected.
Under the Rule, the text of H.R. 647 will be added to that of H.R. 5771 after passage—see House Report 113-643, p.2 at the Rules Committee web site, www.rules.house.gov. Thus, the two bills will be combined and sent to the Senate as a single bill, H.R. 5771, upon passage in the House.
Right now we should be lobbying our senators to amend H.R. 5771 with the text of the Senate’s bi-partisan EXPIRE Act, when H.R. 5771 comes over from the House. This would provide a two-year, retroactive extension through 2015 of all expired tax provisions, with WOTC expanded to include long-term unemployed workers.
We understand disability advocates will be working for improvements to the House version of the ABLE Act. Any improvements could be included in the Senate amendment to H.R. 5771.
PAUL E SUPLIZIO
President, WOTC Coalition
