II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 143 

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

income tax for amounts paid by a spouse of a member of the Armed 

Forces for a new State license or certification required by reason of 

a permanent change in the duty station of such member to another 

State. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 12, 2017 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. MORAN, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. COONS, and Mr. 

KAINE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a 

credit against income tax for amounts paid by a spouse 

of a member of the Armed Forces for a new State 

license or certification required by reason of a permanent 

change in the duty station of such member to another 

State. 

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 ‘‘Military Spouse Job 

5 Continuity Act of 2017’’. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 143 IS

1 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR STATE LICENSURE AND CERTIFI2 CATION COSTS OF MILITARY SPOUSES ARIS3 ING BY REASON OF A PERMANENT CHANGE 

4 IN THE DUTY STATION OF THE MEMBER OF 

5 THE ARMED FORCES TO ANOTHER STATE. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub7 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

8 1986 is amended by inserting after section 25D the fol9 lowing new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 25E. STATE LICENSURE AND CERTIFICATION COSTS 

11 OF MILITARY SPOUSE ARISING FROM TRANS12 FER OF MEMBER OF ARMED FORCES TO AN13 OTHER STATE. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligible indi15 vidual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 

16 imposed by this chapter for the taxable year an amount 

17 equal to the qualified relicensing costs of such individual 

18 which are paid or incurred by the taxpayer during the tax19 able year. 

20 ‘‘(b) MAXIMUM CREDIT.—The credit allowed by this 

21 section with respect to each change of duty station shall 

22 not exceed $500. 

23 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

24 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘eligible 

25 individual’ means any individual— 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 143 IS

1 ‘‘(A) who is married to a member of the 

2 Armed Forces of the United States at the time 

3 that the member moves to another State under 

4 a permanent change of station order, and 

5 ‘‘(B) who moves to such other State with 

6 such member. 

7 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED RELICENSING COSTS.—The 

8 term ‘qualified relicensing costs’ means costs— 

9 ‘‘(A) which are for a license or certification 

10 required by the State referred to in paragraph 

11 (1) to engage in the profession that such indi12 vidual engaged in while within the State from 

13 which the individual moved, and 

14 ‘‘(B) which are paid or incurred during the 

15 period beginning on the date that the orders re16 ferred to in paragraph (1)(A) are issued and 

17 ending on the date which is 1 year after the re18 porting date specified in such orders. 

19 ‘‘(d) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—The amount of 

20 any deduction or other credit allowable under this chapter 

21 for any expense taken into account in determining the 

22 credit allowed under this section shall be reduced by the 

23 amount of the credit under this section.’’. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 143 IS

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

2 for such subpart A is amended by inserting after the item 

3 relating to section 25D the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 25E. State licensure and certification costs of military spouse arising 

from transfer of member of Armed Forces to another State.’’. 

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

5 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

6 December 31, 2016. 

Æ 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS