I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4236 
To promote savings by providing a tax credit for eligible taxpayers who 
contribute to savings products and to facilitate taxpayers receiving this 
credit and open a designated savings product when they file their Federal 
income tax returns. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 10, 2015 
Mr. SERRANO (for himself, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. HINOJOSA, Ms. 
MENG, Mr. PIERLUISI, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. NOLAN, Ms. DELAURO, 
Mr. VARGAS, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of 
New Mexico, Mr. BEN RAY LUJA´N of New Mexico, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. 
CLARKE of New York, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, and Mr. HASTINGS) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and 
Means 
A BILL 
To promote savings by providing a tax credit for eligible 
taxpayers who contribute to savings products and to 
facilitate taxpayers receiving this credit and open a des-
ignated savings product when they file their Federal 
income tax returns. 
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 ‘‘Financial Security 
Credit Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) United States households are experiencing 
significant levels of financial vulnerability, character-
ized by a lack of personal savings. The personal sav-
ings rate reached historic lows in the past decade, 
and a lack of personal savings was a major contrib-
utor to the recession of 2007–2009, and to the slow 
recovery of ensuing years. 
(2) Households continue to lack the savings or 
structures to meet short-term and long-term needs, 
as evidenced by the following: 
(A) According to the Employee Benefit Re-
search Institute, among full-time, full-year wage 
and salary workers ages 21–64, only 54.5 per-
cent participated in a retirement plan in 2013. 
(B) According to the Federal Deposit In-
surance Corporation 2013 Survey of Unbanked 
and Underbanked Households, an estimated 7.7 
percent of United States households are 
unbanked. These households do not have a 
checking or savings account. In total, 31.2 per-
cent of households do not have a savings ac-
count. 
(C) According to the Pew Charitable 
Trusts, the majority of American households 
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(5) Successful pilot programs administered 
through local Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites 
in cities as diverse as Houston, Texas; Newark, New 
Jersey; New York City, New York; San Antonio, 
Texas; and Tulsa, Oklahoma, have shown that tax 
filers with low incomes can and will save when pre-
sented with the right incentive at the right moment 
and access to an account. The potential of increas-
ing savings at tax time among low- and moderate- 
income households has been further validated by the 
low-touch, large-scale pilot Refund to Savings. 
(6) It is in the economic interests of the United 
States to promote savings among all members of so-
ciety, regardless of income. 
SEC. 3. FINANCIAL SECURITY CREDIT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by inserting after section 36B the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘SEC. 36C. FINANCIAL SECURITY CREDIT. 
‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—There shall be al-
lowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this subtitle 
for a taxable year an amount equal to the lesser of— 
‘‘(1) $500, or 
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‘‘(2) 50 percent of the total amount deposited 
or contributed by the taxpayer in accordance with 
subsection (b)(1) into designated savings products 
during such taxable year. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) CREDIT MUST BE DEPOSITED IN OR CON-
TRIBUTED TO DESIGNATED SAVINGS PRODUCT.—No 
amount shall be allowed as a credit under subsection 
(a) for a taxable year unless the taxpayer designates 
on the taxpayer’s return of tax for the taxable year 
that the amount of the credit for such taxable year 
be deposited in or contributed to one or more des-
ignated savings products of the taxpayer and the 
Secretary makes such deposits or contributions to 
the designated savings products. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION BASED ON ADJUSTED GROSS 
INCOME.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The amount of the 
credit allowable under subsection (a) shall be 
reduced (but not below zero) by an amount 
which bears the same ratio to the amount of 
such credit (determined without regard to this 
paragraph) as— 
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‘‘(i) the amount by which the tax-
payer’s adjusted gross income exceeds the 
threshold amount, bears to 
‘‘(ii) $15,000. 
‘‘(B) THRESHOLD AMOUNT.—For purposes 
of subparagraph (A), the term ‘threshold 
amount’ means— 
‘‘(i) $55,500 in the case of a joint re-
turn, 
‘‘(ii) $41,625 in the case of an indi-
vidual who is not married, and 
‘‘(iii) 50 percent of the dollar amount 
in effect under clause (i) in the case of a 
married individual filing a separate return. 
For purposes of this subparagraph, marital sta-
tus shall be determined under section 7703. 
‘‘(c) DESIGNATED SAVINGS PRODUCT.—For pur-
poses of this section, the term ‘designated savings product’ 
means any of the following: 
‘‘(1) A qualified retirement plan (as defined in 
section 4974(c)). 
‘‘(2) A qualified tuition program (as defined in 
section 529). 
‘‘(3) A Coverdell education savings account (as 
defined in section 530). 
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‘‘(4) A United States savings bond. 
‘‘(5) A certificate of deposit (or similar class of 
deposit) with a duration of at least 8 months. 
‘‘(6) A savings account. 
‘‘(7) Any other type of savings product consid-
ered to be appropriate by the Secretary for the pur-
poses of this section. 
‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES.— 
‘‘(1) TAX REFUNDS TREATED AS DEPOSITED 
OR CONTRIBUTED IN CURRENT TAXABLE YEAR.— 
For purposes of subsection (a)(2), the amount of 
any overpayment of taxes refunded to the taxpayer 
(reduced by any amount attributable to the credit al-
lowed under this section by reason of being consid-
ered as an overpayment by section 6401(b)) and 
designated for deposit in or contribution to a des-
ignated savings product of the taxpayer shall be 
treated as an amount deposited or contributed in the 
taxable year in which so deposited or contributed. 
‘‘(2) MAINTENANCE
OF
DEPOSIT.—No con-
tribution or deposit shall be taken into account 
under subsection (a) unless such contribution or de-
posit remains in the designated savings product for 
not less than 8 continuous months. 
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‘‘(3) REDUCTION IN DEPOSITS IN DESIGNATED 
SAVINGS PRODUCTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The amount of depos-
its or contributions taken into account under 
subsection (a) shall be reduced (but not below 
zero) by the aggregate amount of distributions 
(other than interest from designated savings 
products specified in paragraphs (4), (5), (6), 
and (7) of subsection (c)) from all designated 
savings products of the taxpayer during the 
testing period. The preceding sentence shall not 
apply to the portion of any distribution which 
is not includible in gross income by reason of 
a trustee-to-trustee transfer or a rollover dis-
tribution. 
‘‘(B) TESTING PERIOD.—For purposes of 
subparagraph (A), the testing period, with re-
spect to a taxable year, is the period which in-
cludes— 
‘‘(i) such taxable year, 
‘‘(ii) the 2 preceding taxable years, 
and 
‘‘(iii) the period after such taxable 
year and before the due date (including ex-
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