I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5436

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit against

gross income for organ donation.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 10, 2000

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey 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 allow a

credit against gross income for organ donation.

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 ‘‘Help Organ Procure5 ment Expand Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) 13 people die every day waiting for a life9 saving transplant operation;
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1 (2) over 67,000 people are currently waiting for

2 a transplant operation—including over 44,000 kid3 ney patients, 14,000 liver patients, 4,000 lung pa4 tients, and 800 pancreas patients;

5 (3) every 14 minutes, a new name is added to

6 the national transplant waiting list;

7 (4) between 10,000 and 12,000 people die an8 nually who are considered medically suitable for

9 organ donation, yet only an estimated 5,200 people

10 donate their organs every year;

11 (5) one donor can help more than 50 people in

12 need of an organ;

13 (6) current programs designed to expand the

14 number of available organs do not contain any eco15 nomic awards or incentives for patients to become

16 organ donors; and

17 (7) current debates in Congress and in the Ad18 ministration have unfortunately focused on the way

19 organs ought to be allocated, rather than addressing

20 the root cause of the problem, which is a lack of

21 available transplant organs.

22 SEC. 3. CREDIT FOR ORGAN DONATION.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub24 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of

25 1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is
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1 amended by inserting after section 30A the following new

2 section:

3 ‘‘SEC. 25B. ORGAN DONATION.

4 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of a

5 qualified person, there shall be allowed as a credit against

6 the tax imposed by this chapter for the taxable year with

7 respect to all qualified organ donations an amount equal

8 to $2,500.

9 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED ORGAN DONATION.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec11 tion, the term ‘qualified organ donation’ means the

12 donation of a kidney, liver, heart, pancreas, pancreas

13 islet cells, lung, or intestine.

14 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘qualified organ

15 donation’ shall not include the donation of an organ

16 under any of the following circumstances:

17 ‘‘(A) The donor has been killed with assist18 ance from a physician.

19 ‘‘(B) The otherwise eligible individual has

20 authorized the withdrawal or denial of life sus21 taining medical treatment of the donor.

22 ‘‘(C) The otherwise eligible individual

23 medically conducted or assisted in the operation

24 to recover the organ.
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1 ‘‘(D) The organs to be donated come from

2 an unborn child or human fetus that was abort3 ed.

4 ‘‘(E) The donor has committed suicide.

5 ‘‘(F) Legal consent failed to be obtained

6 from the donor or their family prior to the

7 organ recovery.

8 ‘‘(G) The otherwise eligible individual has

9 been indicted or convicted of a felony or a mis10 demeanor offense against the donor, or is ac11 tively under criminal investigation for the pos12 sible felony offense against the donor.

13 ‘‘(H) In the case of living donors, the deci14 sion to donate the organ, in the judgment of

15 the donor’s attending physicians, would subject

16 the donor to unacceptable levels of medical risk

17 of death or permanent debilitation.

18 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED PERSON.—For purposes of this sec19 tion, the term ‘qualified person’ means—

20 ‘‘(1) in the case of a live organ donor, the

21 organ donor himself, and

22 ‘‘(2) in the case of a deceased organ donor—

23 ‘‘(A) the beneficiary designated for pur24 poses of this section,
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1 ‘‘(B) the estate in the case the deceased

2 organ donor died testate but without desig3 nating a beneficiary for the purposes of this

4 section, or

5 ‘‘(C) the class of beneficiaries designated

6 under State law in the case that the deceased

7 organ donor died intestate.

8 ‘‘(d) ALLOCATION OF CREDIT AMOUNT AMONG

9 BENEFICIARIES.—In the case that more than 1 person is

10 a beneficiary under subsection (c), the amount allowed

11 under subsection (a) shall be divided among each of the

12 beneficiaries on a pro rata basis unless—

13 ‘‘(1) the will of the deceased organ donor pro14 vides for a different allocation, or

15 ‘‘(2) the beneficiaries agree to a different allo16 cation.

17 ‘‘(e) CARRYFORWARDS OF UNUSED CREDIT.—If the

18 credit allowable under subsection (a) for any taxable year

19 exceeds the limitation imposed by section 26(a) for such

20 taxable year reduced by the sum of the credits allowable

21 under this subpart (other than this section, section 23,

22 and section 1400C), such excess shall be carried to the

23 succeeding taxable year and added to the credit allowable

24 under subsection (a) for such taxable year. For purposes
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1 of the preceding sentence, credits shall be treated as used

2 on a first-in first-out basis.’’.

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

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

5 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relat6 ing to section 30A the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 25B. Organ donation.’’.

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

8 this section shall apply to taxable years ending after the

9 date of the enactment of this Act.

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