II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 212 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a refundable tax 

credit against income tax for the purchase of qualified access technology 

for the blind. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2021 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. BURR, and Mr. 

TESTER) 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 

refundable tax credit against income tax for the purchase 

of qualified access technology for the blind. 

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 ‘‘Access Technology Af5 fordability Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR QUALIFIED ACCESS TECHNOLOGY FOR 

7 THE BLIND. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub9 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 


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1 1986 is amended by inserting after section 36B the fol2 lowing new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 36C. CREDIT FOR QUALIFIED ACCESS TECHNOLOGY 

4 FOR THE BLIND. 

5 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—There shall be al6 lowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this subtitle 

7 an amount equal to amounts paid or incurred during the 

8 taxable year, not compensated for by insurance or other9 wise, by the taxpayer for qualified access technology for 

10 use by a qualified blind individual who is the taxpayer, 

11 the taxpayer’s spouse, or any dependent (as defined in sec12 tion 152) of the taxpayer. 

13 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The aggregate amount of the 

14 credit allowed under subsection (a) with respect to any 

15 qualified blind individual shall not exceed $2,000 in any 

16 3-consecutive-taxable-year period. 

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

18 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED BLIND INDIVIDUAL.—The term 

19 ‘qualified blind individual’ means an individual who 

20 is blind within the meaning of section 63(f)(4). 

21 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED ACCESS TECHNOLOGY DE22 FINED.—The term ‘qualified access technology’ 

23 means hardware, software, or other information 

24 technology the primary function of which is to con25 vert or adapt information which is visually repVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Feb 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S212.IS S212

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1 resented into forms or formats useable by blind indi2 viduals. 

3 ‘‘(d) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No credit shall 

4 be allowed under subsection (a) for any expense for which 

5 a deduction or credit is allowed under any other provision 

6 of this chapter. 

7 ‘‘(e) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a taxable 

9 year beginning after 2022, the $2,000 amount in 

10 subsection (b) shall be increased by an amount equal 

11 to— 

12 ‘‘(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by 

13 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter14 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 

15 year in which the taxable year begins, deter16 mined by substituting ‘calendar year 2021’ for 

17 ‘calendar year 2016’ in subparagraph (A)(ii) 

18 thereof. 

19 ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—If the amount as adjusted 

20 under subparagraph (A) is not a multiple of $100, 

21 such amount shall be rounded to the next lowest 

22 multiple of $100. 

23 ‘‘(f) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply 

24 with respect to amounts paid or incurred in taxable years 

25 beginning after December 31, 2026.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

2 (1) Section 6211(b)(4)(A) of the Internal Rev3 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘, 36C’’ 

4 after ‘‘36B’’. 

5 (2) Section 1324(b)(2) of title 31, United 

6 States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, 36C’’ after 

7 ‘‘, 36B’’. 

8 (3) The table of sections for subpart C of part 

9 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev10 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 

11 item relating to section 36B the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 36C. Credit for qualified access technology for the blind.’’. 

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

13 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

14 December 31, 2021. 

Æ 


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