ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT
Portable Sanitation Association International News
BIWEEKLY EDITION APRIL 28, 2021
Page 15
New Tax Credit for Small Businesses that Provide PTO for
Vaccines and COVID-Related Illness
A
paid leave tax credit is available to employers
that provide full pay for any employee who
takes time off to get a COVID-19 vaccination.
The tax credit also provides full pay for employees who
take time to recover from the vaccination or a COVID-
related illness.
Funded by the American Rescue Plan, the tax credit
program provides up to $511 per day for each
vaccinated employee. The credit is intended to offset
the cost for businesses and nonprofits with fewer
than 500 employees for up to 80 hours (i.e., 10 work
days) of paid sick leave offered between April 1 and
September 30, 2021. This tax credit will allow employers to provide paid leave for employees to get a COVID-19
vaccination and for any time the employees may need to recover from that vaccination at no cost to the employer.
The purpose of the credit is to encourage vaccinations.
Officials in Washington who announced the credit said
talks with businesses as well as polling results showed
employees would be highly persuaded to get vaccinated if
their employers provided access to a shot and their income
was not threatened.
The White House is asking employers to fill out this form
to share how they are stepping up to support COVID-19
vaccinations. The Internal Revenue Service has also posted
a fact sheet to assist employers in claiming the paid sick
leave credit on their quarterly tax filings.
The American Rescue Plan also enables employers with
fewer than 500 employees to claim up to $17,110 for 14
weeks of paid leave for each impacted employee not only to
get vaccinated, but to take time off if they have COVID-19
symptoms and are (1) going to the doctor; (2) getting tested
for COVID-19; (3) under quarantine or isolation order by the
government or a doctor (or are caring for someone who is);
or (4) needing to care for a child whose school or child care
provider closed, due to COVID-19.
Paid leave has been shown to be a critical tool for stopping
the spread of COVID-19. One study showed that paid
leave provisions put into place during 2020 prevented
approximately 400 COVID-19 cases per day and one
COVID-19 case per day per 1,300 workers. v
