[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 655 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 655
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit for
employers providing student loan payment assistance for employees.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 17, 2019
Ms. Brownley of California introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
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A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit for
employers providing student loan payment assistance for employees.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Student Loan Repayment Assistance
Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM CREDIT.
(a) In General.--Subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end
the following new section:
``SEC. 45T. STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM CREDIT.
``(a) In General.--For purposes of section 38, the employer-
provided student loan repayment credit determined under this section
for the taxable year is an amount equal to 10 percent of all qualified
student loan repayments of the taxpayer for such taxable year.
``(b) Qualified Student Loan Repayment.--For purposes of this
section, the term `qualified student loan repayment' means, with
respect to any employee of an employer, so much of the amounts paid
under a student loan repayment program by the employer on behalf of
such employee as does not exceed $500 per month.
``(c) Student Loan Repayment Program.--For purposes of this
section--
``(1) In general.--A student loan repayment program is a
separate written plan of an employer for the exclusive benefit
of his employees to provide such employees with student loan
payment assistance which meets the requirements of paragraphs
(2) through (5).
``(2) Direct payment for employee education loans.--A plan
meets the requirements of this paragraph if payments under the
plan are made on behalf of the employee directly to the lender
or loan servicer of a qualified education loan (as defined in
section 221(d)) which was incurred by the employee and is
attributable to education furnished to such employee.
``(3) Participation and non-discrimination.--A plan meets
the requirements of this paragraph if the employer makes the
program (and assistance provided thereunder) widely available
to employees (determined under such regulations as the
Secretary shall prescribe to prevent plans from discriminating
in favor of employees who are highly compensated employees
(within the meaning of section 414(q))).
``(4) Reports.--A plan meets the requirements of this
paragraph if, for any taxable year for which a credit is
allowed under this section, the employer reports to the
Secretary (at such time and in such form and manner as the
Secretary may prescribe) the number of employees utilizing the
plan, the number of employees eligible to participate in the
plan, and the terms of such plan.
``(5) Notice.--A plan meets the requirements of this
paragraph if reasonable notification of the availability and
terms of the program are provided to all eligible employees.''.
(b) Credit Made Part of General Business Credit.--Section 38(b) of
such Code is amended by striking ``plus'' at the end of paragraph (31),
by striking the period at the end of paragraph (32) and inserting ``,
plus'', and by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(33) the employer-provided student loan repayment credit
determined under section 45T(a).''.
(c) Credit Refundable for Certain Small Employers.--
(1) In general.--Section 38(c) of such Code is amended by
redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (7) and by inserting
after paragraph (5) the following new paragraph:
``(6) Special rules for employer-provided student loan
repayment credit.--
``(A) In general.--In the case of the employer-
provided student loan repayment credit determined under
section 45T(a) with respect to a specified small
business or any organization exempt from tax under
section 501(a)--
``(i) this section and section 39 shall be
applied separately with respect to such
credits,
``(ii) in applying paragraph (1) to such
credits--
``(I) the tentative minimum tax
shall be treated as being zero, and
``(II) the limitation under
paragraph (1) (as modified by subclause
(I)) shall be reduced by the credit
allowed under subsection (a) for the
taxable year (other than the employer-
provided student loan repayment
credit), and
``(iii) the amount of such credits in
excess of the limitation under paragraph (1)
(as modified by subparagraph (B)(ii)) shall be
treated as a credit under subpart C.
``(B) Specified small business.--For purposes of
this paragraph, the term `specified small business'
means--
``(i) an eligible small business
(determined by substituting `$5,000,000' for
`$50,000,000' in paragraph (5)(C)), or
``(ii) a corporation, partnership, or sole
proprietorship which during the preceding
taxable year employed not more than 100 full-
time employees.
For purposes of clause (ii), an employee shall be
considered full-time if such employee is employed at
least 30 hours per week for 20 or more calendar weeks
in the taxable year and all members of the same
controlled group of corporations (within the meaning of
section 52(a)) and all persons under common control
(within the meaning of section 52(b)) shall be treated
as 1 person.''.
(2) Conforming amendments.--
(A) Section 38(c)(2)(A)(ii)(II) of such Code is
amended by striking ``and the specified credits'' and
inserting ``the specified credits, and the employer-
provided student loan repayment credit determined under
section 45T(a)''.
(B) Section 38(c)(4)(A)(ii)(II) of such Code is
amended by inserting ``and the employer-provided
student loan repayment credit determined under section
45T(a)'' after ``specified credits''.
(C) Section 1324(b)(2) of title 31, United States
Code, is amended by inserting ``38(c)(6),'' after
``36B,''.
(d) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subpart D of
part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by adding
at the end the following new item:
``Sec 45T. Student loan repayment program credit.''.
(e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
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