I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1764 
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 
MARCH 28, 2017 
Mr. MESSER 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 and Pell Grants Act of 2017’’. 
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 
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qualified tuition and related expenses.’’ and inserting the 
following: ‘‘used— 
‘‘(A) for qualified tuition and related ex-
penses, or 
‘‘(B) 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.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The amount included 
in qualified tuition and related expenses under 
subsection (b)(2)(B) for a taxable year for re-
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search not required for a course of instruction 
shall not exceed $300. 
‘‘(B) INFLATION
ADJUSTMENT.—In the 
case of any taxable year beginning after 2017, 
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 2016’ 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 
(B) in the heading of paragraph (1), by 
striking ‘‘IN
GENERAL’’ and inserting ‘‘PAY-
MENT FOR TEACHING, RESEARCH, AND OTHER 
SERVICES’’. 
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(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section apply with respect to amounts received in tax-
able years beginning after December 31, 2016. 
Æ 
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