I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5359 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the exclusion for 

employer-provided educational assistance and to expand the availability 

of the student loan interest deduction. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 6, 2019 

Mr. STIVERS (for himself, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. KATKO, Ms. 

SPANBERGER, and Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand 

the exclusion for employer-provided educational assistance and to expand the availability of the student loan 

interest deduction. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Decreasing Employees 

5 Burdensome Taxes from Student Loans Act of 2019’’ or 

6 the ‘‘DEBT Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXCLUSION FOR EMPLOYER PAYMENT OF QUALI2 FIED EDUCATION LOANS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 127(c)(1) of the Internal 

4 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

5 the end of subparagraph (A), by redesignating subpara6 graph (B) as subparagraph (C), and by inserting after 

7 subparagraph (A) the following new subparagraph: 

8 ‘‘(B) the payment by an employer, whether 

9 paid to the employee or to a lender, of principal 

10 or interest on any qualified education loan (as 

11 defined in section 221(d)(1)) incurred by the 

12 employee, and’’. 

13 (b) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Section 

14 221(e)(1) of such Code is amended by inserting before the 

15 period at the end the following: ‘‘, or for any amount 

16 which is excludable from gross income under section 

17 127(c)(1)(B)’’. 

18 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

19 this section shall apply to payments made by employers 

20 after December 31, 2019. 

21 SEC. 3. INCREASE IN MAXIMUM AMOUNT EXCLUDABLE 

22 UNDER EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE PRO23 GRAMS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The text of paragraph (2) of sec25 tion 127(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 


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1 amended by striking ‘‘$5,250’’ both places it appears and 

2 inserting ‘‘$10,000’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The heading for 

4 section 127(a)(2) of such Code is amended by striking 

5 ‘‘$5,250 MAXIMUM’’ and inserting ‘‘MAXIMUM’’. 

6 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

7 this section shall apply to payments made by employers 

8 after December 31, 2019. 

9 SEC. 4. MODIFICATION OF DEDUCTION FOR INTEREST ON 

10 EDUCATION LOANS. 

11 (a) INCREASED MAXIMUM DEDUCTION.—Section 

12 221(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amend13 ed by striking ‘‘$2,500’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,000’’. 

14 (b) INCREASED INCOME LIMITATION.—Section 

15 221(b)(2)(B)(ii) of such Code is amended by striking 

16 ‘‘$15,000 ($30,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$85,000 ($115,000’’. 

17 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

18 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

19 December 31, 2019. 

Æ 


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