I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1882 

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

income tax for the purchase of hearing aids. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 16, 2015 

Mr. NUNES (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. 

KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. DOLD, Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

DEFAZIO, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. 

RYAN of Ohio, Mr. VALADAO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 

PETERS, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. TITUS, Mr. OLSON, 

Mrs. ELLMERS of North Carolina, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. 

JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. PAULSEN, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. 

KING of New York, Mr. LANCE, Mr. HARDY, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, 

Mr. TAKANO, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. WALZ, Mr. YOUNG of Iowa, Ms. LOFGREN, and Mr. KLINE) 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 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 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR HEARING AIDS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub3 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

4 1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is 

5 amended by inserting after section 25D the following new 

6 section: 

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

8 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an in9 dividual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 

10 imposed by this chapter an amount equal to the amount 

11 paid during the taxable year, not compensated by insur12 ance or otherwise, by the taxpayer for the purchase of any 

13 qualified hearing aid. 

14 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED HEARING AID.—For purposes of 

15 this section, the term ‘qualified hearing aid’ means a hear16 ing aid— 

17 ‘‘(1) which is described in sections 874.3300 or 

18 874.3305 of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, 

19 and is authorized under the Federal Food, Drug, 

20 and Cosmetic Act for commercial distribution, and 

21 ‘‘(2) which is intended for use— 

22 ‘‘(A) by the taxpayer (or the spouse of the 

23 taxpayer in the case of a joint return), or 

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

25 whom the taxpayer, for the taxable year, is al26 lowed a deduction under section 151(c) (relatVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Apr 25, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1882.IH H1882

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

3 ‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount allowed 

5 as a credit under subsection (a) shall not exceed 

6 $500 per qualified hearing aid. 

7 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION BASED ON MODIFIED GROSS

8 INCOME.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a tax10 payer whose modified adjusted gross income ex11 ceeds $200,000 for any taxable year, the 

12 amount allowed as a credit under subsection (a) 

13 for such taxable year shall be zero. 

14 ‘‘(B) MODIFIED ADJUSTED GROSS IN15 COME.—For purposes of this paragraph, the 

16 term ‘modified adjusted gross income’ means 

17 the adjusted gross income of the taxpayer for 

18 the taxable year increased by any amount ex19 cluded from gross income under section 911, 

20 931, or 933. 

21 ‘‘(d) ELECTION ONCE EVERY 5 YEARS.—This sec22 tion shall apply with respect to any individual for any tax23 able year only if there is an election in effect with respect 

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

25 the Secretary may by regulations prescribe) to have this 


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

2 this section apply with respect to any eligible individual 

3 may not be made for any taxable year if such an election 

4 is in effect with respect to such individual for any of the 

5 4 taxable years preceding such taxable year. 

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

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

8 a deduction or credit is allowed under any other provision 

9 of this chapter.’’. 

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

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

12 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relat13 ing to section 25D the following new item: 

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

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

15 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

16 December 31, 2014. 

Æ 


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