Tax credit targets veteran entrepreneurs in struggling communities
H.R. 1298 — Veterans Jobs Opportunity Act · Filed by Donald Davis (D-NC) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Feb 13, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill creates a new federal tax credit for veterans and military spouses who start small businesses in economically disadvantaged areas. The credit equals 15% of qualifying startup costs (up to $50,000 per year), available for the first two years of business operation. Eligible businesses must be located in HUBZones, empowerment zones, low-income areas, or counties with persistent poverty, and must be actively owned and controlled by the veteran or spouse.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a time-limited, capped tax credit for a specific demographic (veterans/military spouses) starting businesses in economically disadvantaged areas. It is a straightforward tax expenditure with built-in guardrails and reporting requirements.
What the text implies
- Credit is available only in first 2 taxable years of business operation, creating a cliff effect after which veterans lose the incentive despite ongoing startup costs.
- Definition of 'underserved community' includes areas designated as empowerment zones 'without regard to whether or not such designation remains in effect,' potentially allowing credits in areas no longer economically distressed.
- Basis reduction requirement (subsection c(4)) means veterans cannot claim both the credit AND full depreciation deductions on the same property, reducing the effective benefit.
- No explicit cap on total credits claimed across all veteran-owned businesses in a given year; aggregate cost to Treasury is unconstrained by the bill itself.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Veterans and military spouses gain a direct, time-limited tax incentive to start businesses in economically distressed areas, potentially creating jobs and economic activity in underserved communities. The credit is narrowly tailored (first 2 years only, $50k cap, active ownership required) and includes Treasury oversight, minimizing abuse risk.
Who stands to gain
- veteran-owned small businesses
- military spouses starting businesses
Named in the bill
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, Small Business Administration, HUBZone program, Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, Economic Research Service (USDA), Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Feb 13, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 13, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $476,807 in lobbying spend. A filing names 169 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Donald Davis, the sponsor, reported $1,617,446 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Disabled American Veterans — $310,451 on 2 filings
- Conservation International Foundation — $166,356 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 21, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (5,610 characters) on Sep 18, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 21, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Tax credit targets veteran entrepreneurs in struggling communities” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr1298 Report an error
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