I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1646 

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

income tax for the purchase of hearing aids. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 19, 2009 

Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York (for herself, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, 

Mr. THOMPSON of California, Ms. BERKLEY, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Mr. 

LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. NUNES, Mr. HELLER, Mr. ROSKAM, Ms. 

MCCOLLUM, Mr. WU, Mr. PAUL, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. WALZ, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. WITTMAN, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. BISHOP of 

New York, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. PRICE of North 

Carolina, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. TIM MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. MORAN of Kansas, Ms. 

KAPTUR, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. PETRI, Mr. ROONEY, Mr. MINNICK, Mr. 

CARNAHAN, and Mr. ALTMIRE) 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 income tax for the purchase of hearing aids. 

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 ‘‘Hearing Aid Assist5 ance Tax Credit Act’’. 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
2 

•HR 1646 IH

1 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR HEARING AIDS FOR SENIORS AND DE2 PENDENTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub4 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

5 1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is 

6 amended by inserting after section 25D the following new 

7 section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 25E. CREDIT FOR HEARING AIDS. 

9 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an in10 dividual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 

11 imposed by this chapter an amount equal to the amount 

12 paid during the taxable year, not compensated by insur13 ance or otherwise, by the taxpayer for the purchase of any 

14 qualified hearing aid. 

15 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED HEARING AID.—For purposes of 

16 this section, the term ‘qualified hearing aid’ means a hear17 ing aid— 

18 ‘‘(1) which is described in section 874.3300 of 

19 title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, and is author20 ized under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 

21 Act for commercial distribution, and 

22 ‘‘(2) which is intended for use— 

23 ‘‘(A) by the taxpayer, but only if the tax24 payer (or the spouse intending to use the hear25 ing aid, in the case of a joint return) is age 55 

26 or older, or 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
3 

•HR 1646 IH

1 ‘‘(B) by an individual with respect to 

2 whom the taxpayer, for the taxable year, is al3 lowed a deduction under section 151(c) (relat4 ing to deduction for personal exemptions for de5 pendents). 

6 ‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount allowed 

8 as a credit under subsection (a) shall not exceed 

9 $500 per qualified hearing aid. 

10 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION BASED ON MODIFIED GROSS

11 INCOME.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a tax13 payer whose modified adjusted gross income ex14 ceeds $200,000 for any taxable year, the 

15 amount allowed as a credit under subsection (a) 

16 for such taxable year shall be zero. 

17 ‘‘(B) MODIFIED ADJUSTED GROSS IN18 COME.—For purposes of this paragraph, the 

19 term ‘modified adjusted gross income’ means 

20 the adjusted gross income of the taxpayer for 

21 the taxable year increased by any amount ex22 cluded from gross income under sections 911, 

23 931, or 933. 

24 ‘‘(d) ELECTION ONCE EVERY 5 YEARS.—This sec25 tion shall apply with respect to any individual for any taxVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:11 Mar 21, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1646.IH H1646

rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
4 

•HR 1646 IH

1 able year only if there is an election in effect with respect 

2 to such individual (at such time and in such manner as 

3 the Secretary may by regulations prescribe) to have this 

4 section apply for such taxable year. An election to have 

5 this section apply with respect to any eligible individual 

6 may not be made for any taxable year if such an election 

7 is in effect with respect to such individual for any of the 

8 4 taxable years preceding such taxable year. 

9 ‘‘(e) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No credit shall 

10 be allowed under subsection (a) for any expense for which 

11 a deduction or credit is allowed under any other provision 

12 of this chapter.’’. 

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

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

15 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relat16 ing to section 25D the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 25E. Credit for hearing aids.’’. 

17 (h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

18 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

19 December 31, 2009. 

Æ 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS