On July 27, Senate Republicans released a series of COVID-19 relief bills, including the “American Workers, Families, and Employers Assistance Act” (the “Bill”). The Bill is a successor to several provisions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act, passed in March of this year, which attempted to blunt the early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Section 213 of the Bill would create a new “safe and healthy workplace tax credit,” which would provide a refundable payroll tax credit equal to 50% of an employer’s “qualified employee protection expenses,” such as COVID-19 tests, protective personal equipment, and cleaning supplies. The new tax credit would also cover “qualified workplace reconfiguration expenses,” including workspace modifications to protect employees and customers from the spread of COVID-19, and “qualified workplace technology expenses,” including technologies designed to reduce contact between employees and customers that were acquired by the employer on or after March 13, 2020, and were not acquired pursuant to a plan in existence before that date.