Democrats are considering bringing back a tax benefit meant to help smaller businesses, nonprofits and their employees weather the COVID-19 pandemic.
Small Business Chair Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., said senators are considering putting the employee retention tax credit back in place after retroactively cutting it off at the end of September. While key Democrats are interested, critical Republican backing remains uncertain.
Attention to the program comes as the omicron variant triggered a surge in cases and as small businesses and nonprofits are lobbying to get the aid back.
“It was a popular credit that we put in during COVID,” Cardin said. “It’s on the table depending on how we proceed on COVID relief, and it’s also on the table in terms of tax issues. So it’s being talked about but there’s been no decisions made on that.”
Cardin said Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden is particularly interested in the tax credit, giving the effort a powerful ally in the chair of the tax writing Finance Committee.
“I like this program,” Wyden said. “I think it makes sense and I want to talk to my colleagues about what we can do.”
Wyden said he was involved in crafting the relief — then as ranking member in March 2020 — because he believes “there’s a kind of symmetry between small businesses and workers.”
Congress created the program as part of the first COVID-19 relief package, allowing businesses and nonprofits that shut down due to government orders or saw sales plunge to claim a credit if they’...
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