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HR10446119th CongressWALLET

Incentivizing Small Business Employee Retention Act of 2026

Sponsored By: Representative Latimer, George [D-NY-16]

Introduced

Summary

Would increase hiring incentives for small businesses and expand tax breaks for accessibility upgrades. It would extend and boost the Work Opportunity Tax Credit for small firms and raise the deduction cap for accessibility improvements.

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  • Small businesses and targeted workers: Extends the Work Opportunity Tax Credit to September 30, 2030 and adds a tiered boost for qualified small businesses that phases up to 100% of later-year eligible wages.
  • Individuals with disabilities and older adults: Expands the deduction for removing architectural and transportation barriers to cover internet and telecommunications accessibility in business-owned facilities and vehicles and raises the annual cap to $30,000 for tax years beginning after December 31, 2026.
  • Transparency and oversight: Requires Treasury to report annually from 2027 through 2030 on how many small businesses claim the enhanced credit, employee retention and wage effects, and the credit's fiscal impact.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

2 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

Bigger accessibility tax deduction for businesses

This bill would double the yearly deduction cap for removing architectural and transportation barriers from $15,000 to $30,000 for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026. It would also expand eligible expenses to include work that improves accessibility to internet or telecommunications services inside buildings or public transportation vehicles used in the business. The deduction would still follow the other rules of the existing section, and the IRS would implement the change.

Bigger hiring tax credit for small businesses

This bill would extend the Work Opportunity Tax Credit through September 30, 2030 for people who start work after December 31, 2025. It would create a new, larger tiered credit for qualified small businesses for hires after December 31, 2026. If a hired worker does at least 400 hours in a year the credit rates for years 2–5 would be 50%, 75%, 90%, and 100% of qualified wages (lower rates apply if the worker has 120–399 hours, and no enhanced credit if under 120 hours). The law would also set per-employee wage caps ($24,000; $14,000; $12,000; $6,000 depending on worker category) and require Treasury/IRS to write rules and collect records; those dollar caps would be indexed for inflation for taxable years beginning after 2027.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Latimer, George [D-NY-16]

NY • D

Cosponsors

  • Rep. Cisneros, Gilbert Ray [D-CA-31]

    CA • D

    Sponsored 9/16/2026

  • Rep. Simon, Lateefah [D-CA-12]

    CA • D

    Sponsored 9/24/2026

  • Rep. Ansari, Yassamin [D-AZ-3]

    AZ • D

    Sponsored 10/6/2026

  • Rep. McBride, Sarah [D-DE-At Large]

    DE • D

    Sponsored 10/13/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

View on Congress.gov
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