II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 905 

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

income tax for the purchase of hearing aids. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 5, 2011 

Mr. HARKIN (for himself, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. KOHL, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND) 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 

credit against income tax for the purchase of hearing aids. 

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 ‘‘Hearing Aid Assist5 ance Tax Credit Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR HEARING AIDS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub8 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

9 1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is 


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1 amended by inserting after section 25D the following new 

2 section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 25E. CREDIT FOR HEARING AIDS. 

4 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an in5 dividual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 

6 imposed by this chapter an amount equal to the amount 

7 paid during the taxable year, not compensated by insur8 ance or otherwise, by the taxpayer for the purchase of any 

9 qualified hearing aid. 

10 ‘‘(b) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount allowed as a 

11 credit under subsection (a) shall not exceed $500 per 

12 qualified hearing aid. 

13 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED HEARING AID.—For purposes of 

14 this section, the term ‘qualified hearing aid’ means a hear15 ing aid— 

16 ‘‘(1) which is described in section 874.3300 of 

17 title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, and is author18 ized under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 

19 Act for commercial distribution, and 

20 ‘‘(2) which is intended for use— 

21 ‘‘(A) by the taxpayer, or 

22 ‘‘(B) by an individual with respect to 

23 whom the taxpayer, for the taxable year, is al24 lowed a deduction under section 151(c) (relatVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:46 May 06, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S905.IS S905

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1 ing to deduction for personal exemptions for de2 pendents). 

3 ‘‘(d) ELECTION ONCE EVERY 5 YEARS.—This sec4 tion shall apply with respect to any individual for any tax5 able year only if there is an election in effect with respect 

6 to such individual (at such time and in such manner as 

7 the Secretary may by regulations prescribe) to have this 

8 section apply for such taxable year. An election to have 

9 this section apply with respect to any individual may not 

10 be made for any taxable year if such an election is in effect 

11 with respect to such individual for any of the 4 taxable 

12 years preceding such taxable year. 

13 ‘‘(e) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No credit shall 

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

15 a deduction or credit is allowed under any other provision 

16 of this chapter.’’. 

17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

18 for subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

19 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by in20 serting after the item relating to section 25D the following 

21 new item: 

‘‘Sec. 25E. Credit for hearing aids.’’. 

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

23 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

24 December 31, 2011. 

Æ 


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