I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1317 
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 
MARCH 21, 2013 
Mr. LATHAM (for himself, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. 
CARTER, Mr. CAPUANO, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Ms. TITUS, and Mr. MCKIN-
LEY) 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. 
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 ‘‘Hearing Aid Assist-
ance Tax Credit Act 2013’’. 
SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR HEARING AIDS FOR SENIORS AND DE-
PENDENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
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1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is 
amended by inserting after section 25D the following new 
section: 
‘‘SEC. 25E. CREDIT FOR HEARING AIDS. 
‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an in-
dividual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 
imposed by this chapter an amount equal to the amount 
paid during the taxable year, not compensated by insur-
ance or otherwise, by the taxpayer for the purchase of any 
qualified hearing aid. 
‘‘(b) QUALIFIED HEARING AID.—For purposes of 
this section, the term ‘qualified hearing aid’ means a hear-
ing aid— 
‘‘(1) which is described in sections 874.3300 or 
874.3305 of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, 
and is authorized under the Federal Food, Drug, 
and Cosmetic Act for commercial distribution, and 
‘‘(2) which is intended for use— 
‘‘(A) by the taxpayer (or the spouse of the 
taxpayer in the case of a joint return), or 
‘‘(B) by an individual with respect to 
whom the taxpayer, for the taxable year, is al-
lowed a deduction under section 151(c) (relat-
ing to deduction for personal exemptions for de-
pendents). 
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‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount allowed 
as a credit under subsection (a) shall not exceed 
$500 per qualified hearing aid. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION BASED ON MODIFIED GROSS 
INCOME.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a tax-
payer whose modified adjusted gross income ex-
ceeds $200,000 for any taxable year, the 
amount allowed as a credit under subsection (a) 
for such taxable year shall be zero. 
‘‘(B) MODIFIED
ADJUSTED
GROSS
IN-
COME.—For purposes of this paragraph, the 
term ‘modified adjusted gross income’ means 
the adjusted gross income of the taxpayer for 
the taxable year increased by any amount ex-
cluded from gross income under sections 911, 
931, or 933. 
‘‘(d) ELECTION ONCE EVERY 5 YEARS.—This sec-
tion shall apply with respect to any individual for any tax-
able year only if there is an election in effect with respect 
to such individual (at such time and in such manner as 
the Secretary may by regulations prescribe) to have this 
section apply for such taxable year. An election to have 
this section apply with respect to any eligible individual 
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may not be made for any taxable year if such an election 
is in effect with respect to such individual for any of the 
4 taxable years preceding such taxable year. 
‘‘(e) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No credit shall 
be allowed under subsection (a) for any expense for which 
a deduction or credit is allowed under any other provision 
of this chapter.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relat-
ing to section 25D the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 25E. Credit for hearing aids.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2012. 
Æ 
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