U.S. Reps. Darin LaHood (R-IL) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) reintroduced legislation Thursday that would make some Coronavirus relief money received by certain industries tax exempt.
The CERTS Tax Exemption Act would make Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services (CERTS) tax-exempt for the motorcoach, school bus and passenger vehicle industries. LaHood and Panetta are joined by U.S. Reps. John Rose (R-TN), Jared Golden (D-ME), Mike Kelly (R-PA), and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR).
“Illinois’ motorcoach and bus companies provide important transportation services to communities across our region and offer good-paying jobs,” LaHood said. “The CERTS grant program was essential to supporting the motor coach and transportation service industry, and those small businesses should receive equal tax treatment as other disproportionally impacted businesses by the pandemic and state-mandated closures.”
Established by Congress as part of the Consolidates Appropriations Act of 2021, the CERTS program provided grants for the motorcoach, school bus and passenger vessel industries. However, the grants only replaced about 20 percent of the revenue those industries lost during the pandemic, officials said, and now, industries are faced with paying back those grants in taxes. The lawmakers said providing a tax exemption for the CERTS grants will ensure transportation services within communities can fully recover from the economic downturn brought on by the pandemic. The legislation is supported by the American Bus Association (ABA), the United Motorcoach Association, Passenger Vessel Association and the National Transportation and Safety Authority (NTSA).
“The CERTS grant relief program provided a necessary lifeline to the U.S. motorcoach industry in response to the economic devastation brought about by the pandemic. Without this funding at such a critical time, numerous small, multigenerational family businesses would have faced extinction, and thousands of rural and underprivileged communities would have lost access to their only form of intercity transportation,” Peter Pantuso, president & CEO of the ABA said. “However, just when the industry began to recover and stabilize, operators were penalized with an unexpected tax bill for accepting the relief, forcing them to pay a good portion of relief funds back in taxes. Like other pandemic relief programs, the CERTS grants should not be taxable; it’s a matter of fairness, equity, and recognition of the key role motorcoach operations play in this country.”