I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1872 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income 

interest received on certain loans secured by agricultural real property. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2019 

Mr. WATKINS (for himself and Mr. MARSHALL) 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 exclude 

from gross income interest received on certain loans secured by agricultural real property. 

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 ‘‘Enhancing Credit Op5 portunities in Rural America Act of 2019’’ or as the 

6 ‘‘ECORA Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXCLUSION FOR INTEREST ON LOANS SECURED BY 

2 AGRICULTURAL REAL PROPERTY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part III of subchapter B of chap4 ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 

5 by inserting after section 139F the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 139G. INTEREST ON LOANS SECURED BY AGRICUL7 TURAL REAL PROPERTY. 

8 ‘‘(a) EXCLUSION.—Gross income shall not include in9 terest received by a qualified lender on any qualified real 

10 estate loan. 

11 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

12 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED LENDER.—The term ‘qualified 

13 lender’ means any bank or savings association the 

14 deposits of which are insured under the Federal De15 posit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1811 et seq.). 

16 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED REAL ESTATE LOAN.—The 

17 term ‘qualified real estate loan’ means any loan se18 cured by agricultural real estate or by a leasehold 

19 mortgage (with a status as a lien) on agricultural 

20 real estate. For purposes of the preceding sentence, 

21 the determination of whether property securing such 

22 loan is agricultural real estate shall be made as of 

23 the time the interest income on such loan is accrued. 

24 ‘‘(3) AGRICULTURAL REAL ESTATE.—The term 

25 ‘agricultural real estate’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) real property which is substantially 

2 used for the production of one or more agricul3 tural products, and 

4 ‘‘(B) any single family residence— 

5 ‘‘(i) which is the principal residence 

6 (within the meaning of section 121) of its 

7 occupant, 

8 ‘‘(ii) which is located in a rural area 

9 (as determined by the Secretary of Agri10 culture), which is not within a Metropoli11 tan Statistical Area (as defined by the Of12 fice of Management and Budget) and 

13 which has a population (determined on the 

14 basis of the most recent decennial census 

15 for which data are available) of 2,500 or 

16 less, and 

17 ‘‘(iii) which is purchased or improved 

18 with the proceeds of the qualified real es19 tate loan. 

20 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION WITH SECTION 265.—Qualified 

21 real estate loans shall be treated as obligations described 

22 in section 265(a)(2) the interest on which is wholly exempt 

23 from the taxes imposed by this subtitle.’’. 


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

2 for such part III is amended by inserting after the item 

3 relating to section 139F the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 139G. Interest on loans secured by agricultural real property.’’. 

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

5 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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