I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 488 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 12, 2017 

Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. AMODEI, Ms. BORDALLO, Ms. BROWNLEY

of California, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mrs. COMSTOCK, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. DELBENE, 

Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. FARENTHOLD, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. HECK, Mr. HIMES, Mr. HURD, 

Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. JONES, Mr. KATKO, Mr. KEATING, Mr. KILMER, Mr. LANCE, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. 

LOBIONDO, Mr. LOEBSACK, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New 

Mexico, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. MCNERNEY, 

Ms. NORTON, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. PITTENGER, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mrs. 

RADEWAGEN, Mr. ROTHFUS, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. SOTO, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. TIPTON, Mr. TURNER, Mr. WALZ, Mr. YOUNG

of Iowa, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. KNIGHT, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, and Mr. 

RUSSELL) 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 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 


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2 

•HR 488 IH

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR STATE LICENSURE AND CERTIFI7 CATION COSTS OF MILITARY SPOUSES ARIS8 ING BY REASON OF A PERMANENT CHANGE 

9 IN THE DUTY STATION OF THE MEMBER OF 

10 THE ARMED FORCES TO ANOTHER STATE. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart B of part IV of sub12 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

13 1986 is amended by inserting after section 30D the fol14 lowing new section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 30E. STATE LICENSURE AND CERTIFICATION COSTS 

16 OF MILITARY SPOUSE ARISING FROM TRANS17 FER OF MEMBER OF ARMED FORCES TO AN18 OTHER STATE. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligible indi20 vidual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 

21 imposed by this chapter for the taxable year an amount 

22 equal to the qualified relicensing costs of such individual 

23 which are paid or incurred by the taxpayer during the tax24 able year. 


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

2 section with respect to each change of duty station shall 

3 not exceed $500. 

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

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

6 individual’ means any individual— 

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

8 Armed Forces of the United States at the time 

9 that the member moves to another State under 

10 a permanent change of station order, and 

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

12 such member. 

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

14 term ‘qualified relicensing costs’ means costs— 

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

16 required by the State referred to in paragraph 

17 (1) to engage in the profession that such indi18 vidual engaged in while within the State from 

19 which the individual moved, and 

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

21 period beginning on the date that the orders re22 ferred to in paragraph (1)(A) are issued and 

23 ending on the date which is 1 year after the re24 porting date specified in such orders.’’. 


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

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

3 relating to section 30D the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 30E. 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 


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