5/25/2022
Dear Members,
This is a correction to the alert we sent yesterday regarding the CERTS Tax Bill, H.R. 7477.
PBA sent the below letter to legislators requesting their support. There is no action needed on your behalf. We apologize for any inconvenience.
The Pennsylvania Bus Association (PBA) respectfully requests your support and co-sponsorship of the CERTS tax bill, H.R. 7477 - this bill excludes from income taxation grants to assist providers of transportation services affected by COVID-19. The bill is already co-sponsored by the following members from the PA delegation: Dean, Fitzpatrick, Kelly and Meuser.
H.R. 7477 would fix an oversight related to the taxability of grants provided under the Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services Act or CERTS Act.
Various businesses received much needed relief under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Shuttered Venues Operators Grant program (SVOG), and the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) grant program, and the relief funding was tax exempt. The grants under CERTS, a similar program established to assist employees engaged in the private motorcoach industry, were not tax exempt. We understand this was an oversight in the drafting of the law and now request your help to correct the error. As a matter of equity and in great time of need, these funds were intended for emergency relief and should be treated the same as other coronavirus relief funds.
Pennsylvania’s private motorcoach operators have suffered catastrophic economic losses because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, while still providing essential transportation services to the public throughout Pennsylvania. As our operations were the first to shut down in 2020, we are now among the last begin recovery. Many operators do not expect to return to “normal” business until sometime in 2023, if the virus continues to recede. Requiring struggling businesses like ours to pay back a large portion of emergency grants through taxes, when they were intended as assistance, makes no sense, and will further delay our recovery.
PBA urges you to co-sponsor H.R. 7477 and support its adoption or inclusion in any available legislative vehicle.
