I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 943

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 

FEBRUARY 26, 2003

Mr. RYUN of Kansas (for himself, Mr. WALSH, Mr. PAYNE, and Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York) 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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR HEARING AIDS FOR SENIORS AND DE7 PENDENTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub9 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

10 1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is 
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1 amended by inserting after section 25B the following new 

2 section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 25C 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. 

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

13 this section, the term ‘qualified hearing aid’ means a hear14 ing aid—

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

16 title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, and is author17 ized under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 

18 Act for commercial distribution, and 

19 ‘‘(2) which is intended for use—

20 ‘‘(A) by the taxpayer, but only if the tax21 payer (or the spouse intending to use the hear22 ing aid, in the case of a joint return) is age 65 

23 or older, or 

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

25 whom the taxpayer, for the taxable year, is al-
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1 lowed a deduction under section 151(c) (relat2 ing to deduction for personal exemptions for de3 pendents). 

4 ‘‘(d) ELECTION ONCE EVERY 5 YEARS.—This sec5 tion shall apply to any taxpayer for any taxable year only 

6 if such taxpayer elects (at such time and in such manner 

7 as the Secretary may be regulations prescribe) to have this 

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

9 this section apply may not be made for any taxable year 

10 if such election is in effect with respect to such taxpayer 

11 for any of the 4 taxable years preceding such taxable year. 

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

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

14 a deduction or credit is allowed under any other provision 

15 of this chapter.’’. 

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

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

18 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relat19 ing to section 25B the following new item:

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

20 (h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

21 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

22 December 31, 2002.

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