I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2823 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a nonrefundable 

tax credit for law enforcement officers who purchase armor vests, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 8, 2005 

Mr. PAUL 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 provide 

for a nonrefundable tax credit for law enforcement officers who purchase armor vests, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Police Security Protec5 tion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR AN ARMOR VEST PURCHASE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub8 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

9 1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is 
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1 amended by inserting after section 25B the following new 

2 section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 25C. PURCHASE OF AN ARMOR VEST BY A LAW EN4 FORCEMENT OFFICER. 

5 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an in6 dividual who is a law enforcement officer or private secu7 rity officer, there shall be allowed as a credit against the 

8 tax imposed by this chapter an amount equal to 100 per9 cent of the amount paid by the taxpayer for the purchase 

10 of an armor vest. 

11 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) MAXIMUM CREDIT.—The credit allowed 

13 under subsection (a) shall not exceed $1,200 for 

14 each law enforcement officer. 

15 ‘‘(2) CARRYFORWARD OF UNUSED CREDITS.—If 

16 the credit allowable under subsection (a) for any tax17 able year exceeds the limitation imposed by section 

18 26(a) for such taxable year reduced by the sum of 

19 the credits allowable under this subpart (other than 

20 this section and section 23) and section 27 for such 

21 taxable year, such excess shall be carried to the suc22 ceeding taxable year and added to the credit allow23 able under subsection (a) for such taxable year. 

24 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.— 

25 ‘‘(1) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.— 
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘law en2 forcement officer’ means any officer, agent, or 

3 employee of the United States or any State, ter4 ritory, or political subdivision thereof as author5 ized by law or by a Government agency to en6 gage in or supervise the prevention, detection, 

7 investigation, or prosecution of any violation of 

8 Federal, State, territorial, or local criminal law. 

9 ‘‘(B) CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS.—Such term 

10 includes— 

11 ‘‘(i) a sworn correctional officer of the 

12 United States or any State, territory, or 

13 political subdivision thereof as authorized 

14 by law, and 

15 ‘‘(ii) a private campus or educational 

16 institution security officer who has been 

17 granted special police powers under law. 

18 ‘‘(2) PRIVATE SECURITY OFFICER.—The term 

19 ‘private security officer’ means an individual em20 ployed at the time of the purchase of the armor vest 

21 at least 25 hours per week as a private security offi22 cer. 

23 ‘‘(3) ARMOR VEST.—The term ‘armor vest’ 

24 means— 
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1 ‘‘(A) body armor, Type I or Type II–A, 

2 which protects against .357 Magnum jacketed 

3 soft point bullets, with nominal masses of 10.2 

4 g (158 gr) impacting at a velocity of 381 me5 ters (1250 feet) per second or less, and 9mm 

6 full metal jacketed bullets, with nominal masses 

7 of 8.0 g (124 gr), impacting at a velocity of 332 

8 meters (1080 feet) per second or less, or 

9 ‘‘(B) body armor which exceeds the speci10 fications stated in subparagraph (A), and which 

11 the law enforcement officer’s agency or depart12 ment permits the officer to wear on duty. 

13 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of a private 

14 security officer, no credit shall be allowed under sub15 section (a) with respect to an armor vest unless such 

16 vest is purchased exclusively for use as a private se17 curity officer.’’. 

18 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

19 for subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

20 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relat21 ing to section 25B the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 25C. Purchase of an armor vest by a law enforcement officer.’’. 

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

23 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

24 December 31, 2004. 

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