I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 500 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income 

any discharge of indebtedness income on education loans of deceased 

or disabled veterans. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 12, 2017 

Mr. DESJARLAIS (for himself, Mrs. BLACK, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BRAT, Mr. 

COHEN, Mr. COOPER, Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, 

Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. KUSTOFF of Tennessee, Mr. MASSIE, Mr. ROE

of Tennessee, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. STIVERS, and Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana) 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 exclude 

from gross income any discharge of indebtedness income 

on education loans of deceased or disabled veterans. 

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 ‘‘Tax Relief for our Na5 tion’s Heroes Act’’ or the ‘‘Andrew P. Carpenter Tax 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DISCHARGE OF INDEBTEDNESS INCOME ON EDU2 CATION LOANS OF DECEASED OR DISABLED 

3 VETERANS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (f) of section 108 of 

5 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

6 at the end the following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(5) DECEASED OR DISABLED VETERANS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any 

9 student loan described in subparagraph (C) of 

10 a covered individual, no amount which (but for 

11 this paragraph) would otherwise be includible in 

12 gross income by reason of the discharge (in 

13 whole or in part) of such loan shall be includ14 ible in gross income of any signer or cosigner 

15 on such loan. 

16 ‘‘(B) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term 

17 ‘covered individual’ means an individual— 

18 ‘‘(i) who is a veteran or member of 

19 the Armed Forces of the United States, 

20 who served on active duty in the Armed 

21 Forces of the United States, and 

22 ‘‘(ii) who— 

23 ‘‘(I) is deceased— 

24 ‘‘(aa) as a result of a serv25 ice-connected death, or 


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1 ‘‘(bb) as a result of a serv2 ice-connected disability incurred 

3 as a result of such active duty 

4 service, or 

5 ‘‘(II) has a service-connected dis6 ability the Secretary of Veterans Af7 fairs has rated as total. 

8 ‘‘(C) STUDENT LOAN DESCRIBED.—For 

9 purposes of subparagraph (A), a student loan 

10 described in this subparagraph is a loan that— 

11 ‘‘(i) is made, insured, or guaranteed 

12 under title IV of the Higher Education Act 

13 of 1965, or 

14 ‘‘(ii) is a private education loan (as 

15 defined in section 140(a)(7) of the Truth 

16 in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)(7))), 

17 made by an entity (other than an entity 

18 described in paragraph (2)) to an indi19 vidual to assist the individual in attending 

20 an educational organization described in 

21 section 170(b)(1)(A)(ii). 

22 ‘‘(D) SERVICE-CONNECTED.—For purposes 

23 of subparagraph (A), the term ‘service-con24 nected’ has the meaning given such term by 


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1 section 101(16) of title 38, United States 

2 Code.’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply to discharges of indebtedness oc5 curring on or after October 7, 2001. 

6 (c) WAIVER OF LIMITATION FOR CREDITS AND RE7 FUNDS ATTRIBUTABLE TO THIS ACT.—If the credit or re8 fund of any overpayment of tax resulting from the applica9 tion of the amendment made by subsection (a) to a period 

10 before the date of enactment of this Act is prevented as 

11 of such date by the operation of any law or rule of law 

12 (including res judicata), such credit or refund may never13 theless be allowed or made if the claim therefor is filed 

14 before the close of the 2-year period beginning on the date 

15 of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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