Jorge Castro, former Counselor to the IRS Commissioner during the Obama Administration and Democratic Congressional tax aide, commented in Law360 on the viability of advancing legislation to restore the employee retention tax credit for the fourth quarter of 2021. Castro noted that in the event a tax title is added to the China competitiveness bill (referencing the conference committee of lawmakers working to bridge differences between House and Senate versions of trade legislation aimed to aid the domestic semiconductor industry and bolster U.S. competitiveness with China), any tax title is likely going to be limited. If there is no tax component in the bill, there will be significant interest from tax-writers in acting on their policy proposals in a separate vehicle before the end of 2022, according to Castro. A year-end tax package could be a vehicle for restoration of the credit, but the midterm election will be a "wild card."