I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1764 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude room and board 

costs and certain research expenses from gross income of certain students. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 28, 2017 

Mr. MESSER 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 

room and board costs and certain research expenses from 

gross income of certain students. 

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 ‘‘Fair Treatment of 

5 Scholarships and Pell Grants Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXCLUSION OF ROOM AND BOARD COSTS AND CER7 TAIN RESEARCH EXPENSES FROM GROSS IN8 COME. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 117(b)(1) of the Internal 

10 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘used for 


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1 qualified tuition and related expenses.’’ and inserting the 

2 following: ‘‘used— 

3 ‘‘(A) for qualified tuition and related ex4 penses, or 

5 ‘‘(B) for room and board costs.’’. 

6 (b) CLARIFICATION WITH RESPECT TO RESEARCH

7 EXPENSES.—Section 117(b)(2)(B) of such Code is 

8 amended by inserting ‘‘or for research at such an edu9 cational organization’’ before the period at the end. 

10 (c) DEFINITIONS.—Section 117(b) of such Code is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following new para12 graph: 

13 ‘‘(3) ROOM AND BOARD COSTS.—For purposes 

14 of paragraph (1), the term ‘room and board costs’ 

15 means room and board costs for which there is an 

16 allowance under section 472(3) of the Higher Edu17 cation Act of 1965.’’. 

18 (d) LIMITATION.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 117(c) of such Code 

20 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

21 paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(3) EXPENSES FOR RESEARCH.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The amount included 

24 in qualified tuition and related expenses under 

25 subsection (b)(2)(B) for a taxable year for reVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Mar 31, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1764.IH H1764

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1 search not required for a course of instruction 

2 shall not exceed $300. 

3 ‘‘(B) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—In the 

4 case of any taxable year beginning after 2017, 

5 the $300 amount in subparagraph (A) shall be 

6 increased by an amount equal to— 

7 ‘‘(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by 

8 ‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment de9 termined under section 1(f)(3) for the cal10 endar year in which the taxable year be11 gins, determined by substituting ‘calendar 

12 year 2016’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in sub13 paragraph (B) of such section. 

14 ‘‘(C) ROUNDING.—If any increase deter15 mined under subparagraph (B) is not a mul16 tiple of $5, such increase shall be rounded to 

17 the nearest multiple of $5.’’. 

18 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

19 117(c) of such Code is amended— 

20 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘LIMITA21 TION’’ and inserting ‘‘LIMITATIONS’’, and 

22 (B) in the heading of paragraph (1), by 

23 striking ‘‘IN GENERAL’’ and inserting ‘‘PAY24 MENT FOR TEACHING, RESEARCH, AND OTHER

25 SERVICES’’. 


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1 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section apply with respect to amounts received in tax3 able years beginning after December 31, 2016. 

Æ 


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