I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4479 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a renter’s credit. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 10, 2014 

Mr. RANGEL 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 provide 

a renter’s credit. 

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 ‘‘Renters Tax Credit 

5 Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RENTERS TAX CREDIT. 

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

9 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

10 section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 45S. RENTERS CREDIT. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, in 

3 the case of a qualified credit recipient, the renters credit 

4 for any taxable year is an amount equal to the sum of 

5 the renter’s credit amounts allocated to such qualified 

6 credit recipient under this section for months ending dur7 ing the taxable year. 

8 ‘‘(b) RENTER’S CREDIT AMOUNT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec10 tion, the term ‘renters credit amount’ means the 

11 rent reduction amount with respect to each rental 

12 unit which is occupied by a qualified renter. 

13 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED RENTER.—For purposes of 

14 this section, the term ‘qualified renter’ means a fam15 ily unit with income not greater than the higher of— 

16 ‘‘(A) 60 percent of local median income, or 

17 ‘‘(B) 150 percent of the Federal poverty 

18 line, 

19 in each case as determined by the Secretary of 

20 Housing and Urban Development for a family of the 

21 size involved. 

22 ‘‘(3) RENT REDUCTION AMOUNT.—For pur23 poses of this section— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘rent reduc25 tion amount’ is the amount by which the fair 


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1 market rent for the unit involved exceeds the 

2 rent charged to the qualified renter. 

3 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The rent reduction 

4 amount taken into account under this section 

5 shall not exceed the excess of— 

6 ‘‘(i) the rent charged to the qualified 

7 renter (or, if lower, specified modest rent), 

8 over 

9 ‘‘(ii) 30 percent of the qualified rent10 er’s income (prorated monthly) as deter11 mined by the renters credit agency of the 

12 State. 

13 ‘‘(C) SPECIFIED MODEST RENT.—The 

14 term ‘specified modest rent’ means— 

15 ‘‘(i) the Fair Market Rent determined 

16 by the Secretary of Housing and Urban 

17 Development for the zip code (if the unit 

18 is located in a metropolitan area) or non19 metropolitan county, or 

20 ‘‘(ii) such amount as may be deter21 mined by the State with respect to the 

22 area in which the unit is located if such 

23 amount is within 25 percent of the amount 

24 determined under clause (i) with respect to 

25 such unit. 


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1 ‘‘(D) UTILITIES.—The renters credit agen2 cy of the State may determine whether and how 

3 to take into account the cost of utilities in de4 termining the rent reduction amount. 

5 ‘‘(E) CREDIT ADJUSTMENT.—The renters 

6 credit agency of the State may elect to increase 

7 the rent reduction amount such that such 

8 amount does not exceed 110 percent of such 

9 amount as determined without regard to this 

10 subparagraph. 

11 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED CREDIT RECIPIENT.—For purposes 

12 of this section, the term ‘qualified credit recipient’ means, 

13 with respect to any rental unit occupied by a qualified 

14 renter, the owner of such unit but only to the extent of 

15 the renters credit amounts which have been allocated to 

16 such person by the renters credit agency. In lieu of the 

17 owner of the unit, the renters credit agency may treat the 

18 lender of any loan to such owner as the qualified credit 

19 recipient if such unit secures such loan. 

20 ‘‘(d) ALLOCATIONS BY RENTERS CREDIT AGENCY TO

21 CREDIT RECIPIENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The renters credit agency 

23 may make allocations of renters credit amounts to 

24 qualified credit recipients under this section on the 

25 basis of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the identity of the qualified renter, 

2 such that the renters credit amount is allowed 

3 to the owner of any rental unit which such 

4 qualified renter occupies (or the lender referred 

5 to in subsection (c)) for any month, or 

6 ‘‘(B) one or more rental units, such that 

7 the renters credit amount is allowed to the 

8 owner of such units (or the lender referred to 

9 in subsection (c)) for such months as such units 

10 are occupied by a qualified renter. 

11 ‘‘(2) RESTRICTIONS ON UNIT BASED ALLOCA12 TIONS.—A renters credit agency may make alloca13 tions of renters credit as described in paragraph 

14 (1)(B) only if— 

15 ‘‘(A) such units are part of a project or 

16 building in which not more than 40 percent of 

17 the units receive allocations under this section 

18 (the Secretary may provide such exceptions to 

19 the requirement of this subparagraph as the 

20 Secretary determines appropriate for small 

21 buildings or buildings with respect to which 

22 more than 40 percent of the units were pre23 viously subsidized under other Federal pro24 grams), and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the Secretary has approved a mobility 

2 plan submitted by such renters credit agency 

3 which provides for an adequate method to en4 sure that qualified renters have the ability to 

5 move from a unit which is eligible for credit 

6 under this section without losing the rent sub7 sidy provided by this section. 

8 ‘‘(e) ALLOCATIONS OF CREDIT AUTHORITY TO

9 STATE AGENCIES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) RENTERS CREDIT DOLLAR AMOUNT FOR

11 AGENCIES.— 

12 ‘‘(A) STATE LIMITATION.—The aggregate 

13 credit amounts which a renters credit agency 

14 may allocate for any calendar year is the por15 tion of the State renters credit ceiling allocated 

16 under this paragraph for such calendar year to 

17 such agency. 

18 ‘‘(B) STATE CEILING INITIALLY ALLO19 CATED TO STATE HOUSING CREDIT AGEN20 CIES.—Except as provided in subparagraphs 

21 (D) and (E), the State renters credit ceiling for 

22 each calendar year shall be allocated to the 

23 renters credit agency of such State. If there is 

24 more than 1 renters credit agency of a State, 


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1 all such agencies shall be treated as a single 

2 agency. 

3 ‘‘(C) STATE RENTERS CREDIT CEILING.— 

4 The State renters credit ceiling applicable to 

5 any State and any calendar year shall be an 

6 amount equal to the sum of— 

7 ‘‘(i) the unused State renters credit 

8 ceiling (if any) of such State for the pre9 ceding calendar year, 

10 ‘‘(ii) the greater of— 

11 ‘‘(I) $17.50 multiplied by the 

12 State population, or 

13 ‘‘(II) $20,000,000, 

14 ‘‘(iii) the amount of State renters 

15 credit ceiling returned in the calendar year, 

16 plus 

17 ‘‘(iv) the amount (if any) allocated 

18 under subparagraph (D) to such State by 

19 the Secretary. 

20 For purposes of clause (i), the unused State 

21 renters credit ceiling for any calendar year is 

22 the excess (if any) of the sum of the amounts 

23 described in clauses (ii) through (iv) over the 

24 aggregate renters credit dollar amount allocated 

25 for such year. 


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1 ‘‘(D) UNUSED RENTERS CREDIT

2 CARRYOVERS ALLOCATED AMONG CERTAIN

3 STATES.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The unused rent5 ers credit carryover of a State for any cal6 endar year shall be assigned to the Sec7 retary for allocation among qualified 

8 States for the succeeding calendar year. 

9 ‘‘(ii) UNUSED RENTERS CREDIT CAR10 RYOVER.—For purposes of this subpara11 graph, the unused renters credit carryover 

12 of a State for any calendar year is the ex13 cess (if any) of— 

14 ‘‘(I) the unused State renters 

15 credit ceiling for the year preceding 

16 such year, over 

17 ‘‘(II) the aggregate renters credit 

18 dollar amount allocated for such year. 

19 ‘‘(iii) FORMULA FOR ALLOCATION OF

20 UNUSED HOUSING CREDIT CARRYOVERS

21 AMONG QUALIFIED STATES.—The amount 

22 allocated under this subparagraph to a 

23 qualified State for any calendar year shall 

24 be the amount determined by the Secretary 

25 to bear the same ratio to the aggregate unVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:23 Apr 16, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4479.IH H4479

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1 used renters credit carryovers of all States 

2 for the preceding calendar year as such 

3 State’s population for the calendar year 

4 bears to the population of all qualified 

5 States for the calendar year. For purposes 

6 of the preceding sentence, population shall 

7 be determined in accordance with section 

8 146(j). 

9 ‘‘(iv) QUALIFIED STATE.—For pur10 poses of this subparagraph, the term 

11 ‘qualified State’ means, with respect to a 

12 calendar year, any State— 

13 ‘‘(I) which allocated its entire 

14 State renters credit ceiling for the 

15 preceding calendar year, and 

16 ‘‘(II) for which a request is made 

17 (not later than May 1 of the calendar 

18 year) to receive an allocation under 

19 clause (iii). 

20 ‘‘(E) APPLICATION OF CERTAIN RULES.— 

21 For purposes of this paragraph, rules similar to 

22 the rules of subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G) of 

23 section 42(h)(3) shall apply. 

24 ‘‘(F) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a 

2 calendar year after 2013, the $20,000,000 

3 and $17.50 amounts in subparagraph (C) 

4 shall each be increased by an amount equal 

5 to— 

6 ‘‘(I) such dollar amount, multi7 plied by 

8 ‘‘(II) the cost-of-living adjust9 ment determined under section 1(f)(3) 

10 for such calendar year by substituting 

11 ‘calendar year 2001’ for ‘calendar 

12 year 1992’ in subparagraph (B) there13 of. 

14 ‘‘(ii) ROUNDING.— 

15 ‘‘(I) In the case of the 

16 $20,000,000 amount, any increase 

17 under clause (i) which is not a mul18 tiple of $50,000 shall be rounded to 

19 the next lowest multiple of $50,000. 

20 ‘‘(II) In the case of the $17.50 

21 amount, any increase under clause (i) 

22 which is not a multiple of 50 cents 

23 shall be rounded to the next lowest 

24 multiple of 50 cents. 


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1 ‘‘(f) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sec2 tion— 

3 ‘‘(1) RENTERS CREDIT AGENCY.—The term 

4 ‘renters credit agency’ means, with respect to any 

5 State, the housing credit agency of such State (as 

6 defined in section 42(h)(8)(A)) or such other agency 

7 as is authorized to carry out the activities of the 

8 renters credit agency under this section. 

9 ‘‘(2) POSSESSIONS TREATED AS STATES.—The 

10 term ‘State’ includes a possession of the United 

11 States. 

12 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

13 such regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to 

14 carry out the purposes of this section.’’. 

15 (b) CREDIT TO BE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

16 CREDIT.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of section 38 

18 of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the 

19 end of paragraph (35), by striking the period at the 

20 end of paragraph (36) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and 

21 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(37) the renters credit determined under sec23 tion 45S(a).’’. 

24 (2) CREDIT ALLOWABLE AGAINST ALTERNATIVE

25 MINIMUM TAX.—Subparagraph (B) of section 


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1 38(c)(4) of such Code is amended by redesignating 

2 clauses (vii) through (ix) as clauses (viii) through 

3 (x), respectively, and by inserting after clause (vi) 

4 the following new clause: 

5 ‘‘(vii) the credit determined under sec6 tion 45S,’’. 

7 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

8 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

9 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45S. Renters credit.’’. 

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

12 this section shall apply to allocations made for calendar 

13 years after 2014 and to taxable years ending after Decem14 ber 31, 2014. 

Æ 


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