# The LEAP Act: Tax Credits for Companies That Hire Apprentices

The LEAP Act creates a tax credit that gives employers money back on their taxes when they hire and train apprentices. Specifically, companies get a $1,500 tax credit for each apprentice they employ beyond a certain baseline number. Think of it like this: if a construction company normally has 10 apprentices working for them, but this year they hire 12, they'd get a $1,500 credit for each of those 2 extra apprentices, reducing the taxes they owe to the federal government.

The credit is designed to encourage businesses to expand their apprenticeship programs. However, there's a catch—companies can only claim this credit for the same apprentice for up to two years. So if someone stays in an apprenticeship program for three years, the employer only gets the credit for the first two years. The baseline that determines whether an apprentice "counts" is based on 80 percent of the average number of apprentices a company employed over the previous three years. For brand-new apprenticeship programs that have never had apprentices before, the baseline starts at zero, meaning every apprentice in the first year would qualify for the credit.

There's a special rule for the construction industry. Construction companies can only claim the credit for apprentices who have completed a pre-apprenticeship program (a preparatory training course) and are currently in an official apprenticeship. This requirement doesn't apply to other industries. The bill also includes a provision requiring federal agencies to reduce printing costs and make more government documents available online instead of in print, though this is a separate administrative requirement unrelated to the main apprenticeship credit.