I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2390 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a refundable tax 

credit for education and training expenses relating to autism spectrum 

disorders to increase the number of teachers with such expertise. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 17, 2007 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. DOYLE) 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 

a refundable tax credit for education and training expenses relating to autism spectrum disorders to increase 

the number of teachers with such expertise. 

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 ‘‘Teacher Education for 

5 Autistic Children Act of 2007’’ or the ‘‘TEACH Act of 

6 2007’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE; DEFINITION. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The occurrence of autism spectrum dis2 orders (ASD) has increased during the past decade 

3 from an estimated one in 500 to an estimated one 

4 in 150 according to data released by the Centers for 

5 Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in February 

6 2007. CDC classified as having ASD children whose 

7 behaviors were consistent with the DSM–IV–TR cri8 teria for Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, and 

9 Pervasive Developmental Disorder—Not Other Oth10 erwise Specified (PDD–NOS). 

11 (2) Autism is a complex developmental dis12 ability that affects an individual in the areas of so13 cial interaction and communication. Because it is a 

14 spectrum disorder, it affects each individual dif15 ferently and to varying degrees of severity. People 

16 with autism process and respond to information in 

17 unique ways. In some cases, aggressive or self-inju18 rious behavior may be present. 

19 (3) The increased number of children diagnosed 

20 with an autism spectrum disorder is a growing and 

21 urgent concern for families and educators, as our 

22 education systems struggle to respond to the needs 

23 of this population in a comprehensive manner. 

24 (4) Factors that have a major impact on the in25 tensity and types of education-related services for inVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:44 May 19, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2390.IH H2390

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1 dividuals with an autism spectrum disorder include 

2 the uniqueness of the ways individuals with autism 

3 process and respond to information, the variability 

4 of how autism affects each individual, the percentage 

5 of time individuals with autism are successfully 

6 taught in a regular classroom, and the communica7 tion and socialization deficits of those individuals. 

8 (5) Children with an autism spectrum disorder 

9 who receive intensive and appropriate educational 

10 services often make very significant functional im11 provements. 

12 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to in13 crease the number of teachers and paraprofessional teach14 ing assistants with expertise in autism spectrum disorders 

15 by providing a refundable tax credit for qualified edu16 cation expenses of such teachers and paraprofessional 

17 teaching assistants. 

18 (c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this Act, the term 

19 ‘‘autism spectrum disorders’’ has the meaning given to the 

20 term ‘‘Pervasive Developmental Disorder’’ by the Diag21 nostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth 

22 Edition, Text Revision (DSM–IV–TR). 


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1 SEC. 3. REFUNDABLE TAX CREDIT FOR EDUCATION AND 

2 TRAINING RELATING TO AUTISM SPECTRUM 

3 DISORDERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub5 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

6 1986 (relating to refundable credits) is amended by redes7 ignating section 36 as section 37 and by inserting after 

8 section 35 following new section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 36. EDUCATION AND TRAINING RELATING TO AUTISM 

10 SPECTRUM DISORDERS. 

11 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an eli12 gible individual, there shall be allowed as a credit against 

13 the tax imposed by this chapter for the taxable year an 

14 amount equal to the qualified expenses which are paid or 

15 incurred by the taxpayer during such taxable year. 

16 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The amount allowed as a credit 

17 under subsection (a) for a taxable year shall not exceed 

18 $10,000. 

19 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED EXPENSES.—The term ‘qualified ex20 penses’ means— 

21 ‘‘(1) tuition, fees, books, supplies, and equip22 ment required for the enrollment or attendance of 

23 such individual in a course or program of study to 

24 prepare such individual to teach children or adults 

25 with an autism spectrum disorder, and 


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1 ‘‘(2) interest on a qualified education loan (as 

2 defined by section 221(d)(1)), the proceeds of which 

3 are used to for expenses described in paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(d) AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS.—For purposes 

5 of this section, the term ‘autism spectrum disorders’ has 

6 the meaning given to such term in section 2(c) of the 

7 TEACH Act of 2007. 

8 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) APPROVAL OF COURSES AND PROGRAMS

10 OF STUDY.—A course or program of study shall not 

11 be taken into account for purposes of subsection (c) 

12 unless such course or program is approved by the 

13 State in which such course or program is offered. 

14 ‘‘(2) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No credit 

15 or deduction shall be allowed under this chapter for 

16 any expense for which credit is allowed under this 

17 section. 

18 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION WITH OTHER EDUCATION

19 PROVISIONS.—The total amount of qualified ex20 penses shall be reduced by the amount of such ex21 penses taken into account in determining any 

22 amount allowed as a credit under section 25A, ex23 cluded under section 135, 529(c)(1), or 530(d)(2), 

24 or deducted under section 222. For purposes of the 

25 preceding sentence, the amount taken into account 


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1 in determining the amount excluded under section 

2 529(c)(1) shall not include that portion of the dis3 tribution which represents a return of any contribu4 tions to the plan. 

5 ‘‘(f) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply to 

6 taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012.’’ 

7 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (2) of 

8 section 1324(b) of title 31, United States Code, is amend9 ed by inserting ‘‘or from section 36 of such Code’’ before 

10 the period at the end. 

11 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

12 for subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

13 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by strik14 ing the last item and inserting the following new items: 

‘‘Sec. 36. Education and training relating to autism spectrum disorders. 

‘‘Sec. 37. Overpayments of tax.’’. 

15 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

16 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

17 December 31, 2007. 

Æ 


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