The markup of the Senate Finance Committee’s tax extenders bill, which was scheduled for Wednesday, has been postponed until Thursday. The bill’s formal name is the “Expiring Provisions Improvement Reform and Efficiency (EXPIRE) Act.
The Chairman’s Mark was published today and is available on the Senate Finance Committee’s website. It will be considered by the full Committee on Thursday, amendments offered and approved, etc. It will then pass before the entire Senate for a vote.
The EXPIRE Act was presented this morning as a bi-partisan offer by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and the committee’s Ranking Minority Member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
The bill includes a retroactive 2-year extension of WOTC, mostly intact. The Empowerment Zone Employment Credit, however, is missing from the bill. If this omission makes it through Thursday’s markup, it will also mean that empowerment zone residents will no longer be recognized as designated community members for purposes of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC).
Here is the Senate Finance Committee’s Press Release.
Here is a summary of the bill and here is the proposal in its entirety.
The bill gives each of the following employment based tax credits a 2-year extension:
- Indian employment tax credit
- Employer wage credit for activated military reservists
- Work Opportunity Tax Credit
Also of interest to many WOTC Planet readers, the Research and experimentation tax credit (aka R&D) also has a 2-year extension.
Action Required
Paul Suplizio, President of the WOTC Coalition recognized the delay as an opportunity for WOTC proponents to reach out to Republican committee members and to request their support for the bill in markup.
If a majority of Finance Committee Republicans join in approving the bill Thursday, it will significantly increase the odds of passing the Senate. Please contact your Committee Republican senators, other than Senator Hatch, and urge them to vote to approve the EXPIRE Act when it comes before the Finance Committee on Thursday.
