I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1656 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide incentives for 

employers to establish student loan repayment programs and to make 

contributions to qualified tuition programs on behalf of children of employees. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 21, 2017 

Mr. MEEHAN (for himself, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. HURD, Mr. 

RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, and Mr. REICHERT) 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 provide 

incentives for employers to establish student loan repayment programs and to make contributions to qualified 

tuition programs on behalf of children of employees. 

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 ‘‘Higher Education 

5 Loan Payments for Students and Parents Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘HELP for Students and Parents Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXCLUSION FOR EMPLOYER PAYMENT OF QUALI2 FIED EDUCATION LOANS AND CERTAIN 

3 QUALIFIED TUITION PLAN CONTRIBUTIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 127(c)(1) of the Internal 

5 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

6 the end of subparagraph (A), by redesignating subpara7 graph (B) as subparagraph (D), and by inserting after 

8 subparagraph (A) the following new subparagraphs: 

9 ‘‘(B) the payment by an employer of prin10 cipal or interest on any qualified education loan 

11 (as defined in section 221(d)(1)) incurred by 

12 the employee, 

13 ‘‘(C) any qualified dependent 529 contribu14 tions (as defined in section 45S(d)) made by 

15 the employer, and’’. 

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

17 this section shall apply to payments made by employers 

18 after December 31, 2017. 

19 SEC. 3. EMPLOYER PROVIDED HIGHER EDUCATION ASSIST20 ANCE CREDIT. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub22 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

23 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

24 section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 45S. EMPLOYER-PROVIDED HIGHER EDUCATION AS2 SISTANCE CREDIT. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, the 

4 employer-provided higher education assistance credit de5 termined under this section for the taxable year is an 

6 amount equal to the sum of— 

7 ‘‘(1) 50 percent of the student loan repayment 

8 expenditures of the taxpayer for the taxable year, 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(2) 50 percent of the qualified dependent 529 

11 contributions made by the taxpayer for the taxable 

12 year. 

13 ‘‘(b) DOLLAR LIMITATION.—The amount taken into 

14 account under each of paragraphs (1) and (2) with respect 

15 to any employee for any taxable year shall not exceed 

16 $5,250. 

17 ‘‘(c) STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT EXPENDITURE.— 

18 For purposes of this section, the term ‘student loan repay19 ment expenditure’ means any amount paid by an employer 

20 for principal or interest on any qualified education loan 

21 (as defined in section 221(d)(1)) incurred by an employee. 

22 ‘‘(d) QUALIFIED DEPENDENT 529 CONTRIBUTION.— 

23 For purposes of this section— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified de25 pendent 529 contribution’ means any amount con26 tributed by an employer to a qualified tuition proVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Mar 23, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1656.IH H1656

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1 gram the designated beneficiary of which is a quali2 fying child of an employee. 

3 ‘‘(2) QUALIFYING CHILD.—The term ‘qualifying 

4 child’ means a child who— 

5 ‘‘(A) has not attained the age of 19 at the 

6 time of the contribution, or 

7 ‘‘(B) is a student who has not attained the 

8 age of 24 at the time of the contribution. 

9 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) SELF-EMPLOYED INDIVIDUALS.—The term 

11 ‘employee’ includes for any year, an individual who 

12 is an employee within the meaning of section 

13 401(c)(1) (relating to self-employed individuals). 

14 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYER.—An individual who owns the 

15 entire interest in an unincorporated trade or busi16 ness shall be treated as his own employer. A part17 nership shall be treated as the employer of each 

18 partner who is an employee within the meaning of 

19 paragraph (2).’’. 

20 (b) CREDIT PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS CREDIT.— 

21 Section 38(b) of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ 

22 at the end of paragraph (35), by striking the period at 

23 the end of paragraph (36) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by 

24 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(37) the employer-provided higher education 

2 assistance credit determined under section 45S.’’. 

3 (c) DENIAL OF DEDUCTION.—Section 280C of such 

4 Code is amended by adding at the end the following new 

5 subsection: 

6 ‘‘(j) EMPLOYER-PROVIDED HIGHER EDUCATION AS7 SISTANCE CREDIT.—No deduction shall be allowed for 

8 that portion of the student loan repayment expenditures 

9 (as defined in section 45S(c)) and qualified dependent 529 

10 contributions (as defined in section 45S(d)) otherwise al11 lowable as a deduction for the taxable year which is equal 

12 to the amount of the credit determined for such taxable 

13 year under section 45S with respect to any such expendi14 tures or contributions, as the case may be.’’. 

15 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

16 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

17 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol18 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45S. Employer-provided higher education assistance credit.’’. 

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

20 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

21 December 31, 2017. 

Æ 


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