I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6721 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow for a credit against 

tax for rent paid on the personal residence of the taxpayer. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 12, 2023 

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. PETERS, Mr. PANETTA, 

Ms. JACOBS, Mr. CARSON, Mr. MULLIN, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. 

NORTON, Mr. EVANS, Mr. THANEDAR, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. CROCKETT, Mrs. 

WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. 

LIEU, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. WILSON of Florida, 

and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) 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 for 

a credit against tax for rent paid on the personal residence of the taxpayer. 

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 ‘‘Rent Relief Act of 

5 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REFUNDABLE CREDIT FOR RENT PAID FOR PRIN2 CIPAL RESIDENCE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub4 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

5 1986 is amended by inserting after section 36B the fol6 lowing new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 36C. RENTER TAX CREDIT. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual who 

9 leases the individual’s principal residence (within the 

10 meaning of section 121) during the taxable year and who 

11 pays rent with respect to such residence in excess of 30 

12 percent of the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income for such 

13 taxable year, there shall be allowed as a credit against the 

14 tax imposed by this subtitle for such taxable year an 

15 amount equal to the applicable percentage of such excess. 

16 ‘‘(b) CREDIT LIMITED BY 100 PERCENT OF SMALL

17 AREA FAIR MARKET RENT.—Solely for purposes of deter18 mining the amount of the credit allowed under subsection 

19 (a) with respect to a residence for the taxable year, there 

20 shall not be taken into account rent in excess of an 

21 amount equal to 100 percent of the small area fair market 

22 rent (including the utility allowance) applicable to the resi23 dence involved (as most recently published, as of the be24 ginning of the taxable year, by the Department of Housing 

25 and Urban Development). 


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1 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—For pur2 poses of this section— 

3 ‘‘(1) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—The term 

4 ‘applicable percentage’ means the percentage deter5 mined in accordance with the following table: 

The applicable 

‘‘If the taxpayer’s adjusted gross 

income is: 

percentage is: 

Not over $25,000 .............................................................. 100 percent

Over $25,000, but not over $50,000 ................................ 75 percent

Over $50,000, but not over $75,000 ................................ 50 percent

Over $75,000, but not over $100,000 .............................. 25 percent

Over $100,000 .................................................................. 0 percent. 

6 ‘‘(2) PARTIAL YEAR RESIDENCE.—The Sec7 retary shall prescribe such rules as are necessary to 

8 carry out the purposes of this section for taxpayers 

9 with respect to whom a residence is a principal resi10 dence for only a portion of the taxable year. 

11 ‘‘(3) RENT.—The term ‘rent’ includes any 

12 amount paid for utilities of a type taken into ac13 count for purposes of determining the utility allow14 ance under section 42(g)(2)(B)(ii). 

15 ‘‘(4) MARRIED INDIVIDUALS FILING SEPARATE

16 RETURNS.—In the case of individuals who are mar17 ried to each other, have the same principal resi18 dence, and do not file a joint return for the taxable 

19 year, the credit determined under this section with 

20 respect to each such individual shall be 50 percent 

21 of the amount of the credit which would be deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Dec 28, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6721.IH H6721

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1 mined under this section if such individuals filed a 

2 joint return, unless such individuals agree on a dif3 ferent division of such credit (in such manner as the 

4 Secretary may provide) which does not aggregate to 

5 more 100 percent of such amount. 

6 ‘‘(d) RECONCILIATION OF CREDIT AND ADVANCE

7 PAYMENTS.—The amount of the credit allowed under this 

8 section for any taxable year shall be reduced (but not 

9 below zero) by the aggregate amount of any advance pay10 ments of such credit under section 7527B for such taxable 

11 year.’’. 

12 (b) ADVANCE PAYMENT.—Chapter 77 of the Internal 

13 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after sec14 tion 7527A the following new section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 7527B. ADVANCE PAYMENT OF RENTER TAX CREDIT. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after 

17 the date of the enactment of the Rent Relief Act of 2023, 

18 the Secretary shall establish a program for making ad19 vance payments of the credit allowed under section 36C 

20 on a monthly basis to any taxpayer who— 

21 ‘‘(1) the Secretary has determined will be al22 lowed such credit for the taxable year, and 

23 ‘‘(2) has made an election under subsection (c). 

24 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF ADVANCE PAYMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 

2 (a), the amount of the monthly advance payment of 

3 the credit provided to a taxpayer during the applica4 ble period shall be equal to the lesser of— 

5 ‘‘(A) an amount equal to— 

6 ‘‘(i) the amount of the credit which 

7 the Secretary has determined will be al8 lowed to such taxpayer under section 36C 

9 for the taxable year ending in such applica10 ble period, divided by 

11 ‘‘(ii) 12, or 

12 ‘‘(B) such other amount as is elected by 

13 the taxpayer. 

14 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—For purposes of 

15 this section, the term ‘applicable period’ means the 

16 12-month period from the month of July of the tax17 able year through the month of June of the subse18 quent taxable year. 

19 ‘‘(c) ELECTION OF ADVANCE PAYMENT.—A taxpayer 

20 may elect to receive an advance payment of the credit al21 lowed under section 36C for any taxable year by including 

22 such election on a timely filed return for the preceding 

23 taxable year. 

24 ‘‘(d) INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE NOTIFICA25 TION.—The Internal Revenue Service shall take such 


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1 steps as may be appropriate to ensure that taxpayers who 

2 are eligible to receive the credit under section 36C are 

3 aware of the availability of the advance payment of such 

4 credit under this section. 

5 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may prescribe 

6 such regulations or other guidance as may be necessary 

7 or appropriate to carry out the purposes this section.’’. 

8 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The table of sections for 

10 subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

11 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 

12 inserting after the item relating to section 36B the 

13 following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 36C. Renter tax credit.’’. 

14 (2) ADVANCE PAYMENT.—The table of sections 

15 for chapter 77 of such Code is amended by inserting 

16 after the item relating to section 7527A the fol17 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 7527B. Advance payment of renter tax credit.’’. 

18 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

19 this section shall apply with respect to taxable years begin20 ning after December 31, 2023. 

21 (e) COMMUNITY OUTREACH.—Immediately upon the 

22 enactment of this Act, in addition to amounts otherwise 

23 available, there are appropriated out of any money in the 

24 Treasury not otherwise appropriated $50,000,000 to reVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Dec 28, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6721.IH H6721

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1 main available until 5 years after the enactment of this 

2 Act for necessary expenses for the Internal Revenue Serv3 ice to support efforts to increase enrollment of eligible 

4 households in the Renter Tax Credit allowed under section 

5 36C of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (including the 

6 advance payment of such credit under section 7527B of 

7 such Code), including but not limited to program out8 reach, costs of data sharing arrangements, systems 

9 changes, forms changes, and related efforts, and efforts 

10 by Federal agencies to facilitate the cross-enrollment of 

11 beneficiaries of other programs in such Renter Tax Credit, 

12 including by establishing intergovernmental cooperative 

13 agreements with States and local governments, tribal gov14 ernments, and possessions of the United States: Provided, 

15 that such amount shall be available in addition to any 

16 amounts otherwise available: Provided further, that these 

17 funds may be awarded by Federal agencies to State and 

18 local governments, tribal governments, and possessions of 

19 the United States, and private entities, including organiza20 tions dedicated to free tax return preparation. 

Æ 


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