I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5730 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude room and board 
costs and certain research expenses from gross income of certain students. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 12, 2016 
Mr. MESSER (for himself, Ms. STEFANIK, and Mr. HURD of Texas) 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 
room and board costs and certain research expenses from 
gross income of certain students. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair Treatment of 
Scholarships Act of 2016’’. 
SEC. 2. EXCLUSION OF ROOM AND BOARD COSTS AND CER-
TAIN RESEARCH EXPENSES FROM GROSS IN-
COME. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 117(b)(1) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘used for 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:17 Jul 19, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5730.IH
H5730
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
qualified tuition and related expenses.’’ and inserting the 
following: ‘‘used— 
‘‘(A) for qualified tuition and related ex-
penses, or 
‘‘(B) in the case of an eligible student (as 
defined in section 25A(b)(3)), for room and 
board costs.’’. 
(b) CLARIFICATION WITH RESPECT TO RESEARCH 
EXPENSES.—Section 117(b)(2)(B) of such Code is 
amended by inserting ‘‘or for research at such an edu-
cational organization’’ before the period at the end. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—Section 117(b) of such Code is 
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘(3) ROOM AND BOARD COSTS.—For purposes 
of paragraph (1), the term ‘room and board costs’ 
means room and board costs for which there is an 
allowance under section 472(3) of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965.’’. 
(d) LIMITATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 117(c) of such Code 
is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(3) EXPENSES FOR RESEARCH.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:17 Jul 19, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5730.IH
H5730
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The amount included 
in qualified tuition and related expenses under 
subsection (b)(2)(B) for a taxable year for re-
search not required for a course of instruction 
shall not exceed $300. 
‘‘(B) INFLATION
ADJUSTMENT.—In the 
case of any taxable year beginning after 2016, 
the $300 amount in subparagraph (A) shall be 
increased by an amount equal to— 
‘‘(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by 
‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment de-
termined under section 1(f)(3) for the cal-
endar year in which the taxable year be-
gins, determined by substituting ‘calendar 
year 2015’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in sub-
paragraph (B) of such section. 
‘‘(C) ROUNDING.—If any increase deter-
mined under subparagraph (B) is not a mul-
tiple of $5, such increase shall be rounded to 
the nearest multiple of $5.’’. 
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENTS.—Section 
117(c) of such Code is amended— 
(A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘LIMITA-
TION’’ and inserting ‘‘LIMITATIONS’’, and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:17 Jul 19, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5730.IH
H5730
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS