H.R. 1298 — Veterans Jobs Opportunity Act

This section provides that the Act may be cited as the “Veterans Jobs Opportunity Act.”

This section establishes a veteran small business start-up credit under section 45BB of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 equal to 15 percent of qualified start-up expenditures, up to $50,000, for a taxable year. As background, the credit is available only to an applicable veteran-owned small business, meaning a small business owned and controlled by 1 or more veterans or spouses of veterans and with a principal place of business in an underserved community, including a HUBZone under 15 U.S.C. § 632(p), an empowerment zone or enterprise community, an area of low or moderate income, or a county with persistent poverty. The section defines a small business for this credit as a business with gross receipts of $5 million or less in the preceding taxable year or, if that test is not met, no more than 50 full-time employees in the preceding taxable year, and defines full-time employee as one working at least 30 hours per week for 20 or more calendar weeks in the taxable year. It also defines qualified start-up expenditures to include start-up costs under section 195(c) and amounts paid or incurred to purchase or lease real property or purchase personal property placed in service during the taxable year and used in the active conduct of a trade or business. The section limits the credit to the first 2 taxable years for which ordinary and necessary business expenses are deductible under section 162, requires an election to claim the credit, applies controlled group aggregation rules under section 52, and reduces the basis of property by the amount of the credit attributable to that property. It also adds the credit to the general business credit under section 38, requires the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to evaluate the credit every 4th year in a semiannual report, and applies the amendments to taxable years beginning after the date of enactment.