I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 431 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a refundable tax 
credit against income tax for the purchase of qualified access technology 
for the blind. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 21, 2021 
Mr. THOMPSON of California (for himself and Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania) 
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 
refundable tax credit against income tax for the purchase 
of qualified access technology for the blind. 
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 ‘‘Access Technology Af-
fordability Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR QUALIFIED ACCESS TECHNOLOGY FOR 
THE BLIND. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
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1986 is amended by inserting after section 36B the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘SEC. 36C. CREDIT FOR QUALIFIED ACCESS TECHNOLOGY 
FOR THE BLIND. 
‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—There shall be al-
lowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this subtitle 
an amount equal to amounts paid or incurred during the 
taxable year, not compensated for by insurance or other-
wise, by the taxpayer for qualified access technology for 
use by a qualified blind individual who is the taxpayer, 
the taxpayer’s spouse, or any dependent (as defined in sec-
tion 152) of the taxpayer. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The aggregate amount of the 
credit allowed under subsection (a) with respect to any 
qualified blind individual shall not exceed $2,000 in any 
3-consecutive-taxable-year period. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 
‘‘(1) QUALIFIED BLIND INDIVIDUAL.—The term 
‘qualified blind individual’ means an individual who 
is blind within the meaning of section 63(f)(4). 
‘‘(2) QUALIFIED
ACCESS
TECHNOLOGY
DE-
FINED.—The term ‘qualified access technology’ 
means hardware, software, or other information 
technology the primary function of which is to con-
vert or adapt information which is visually rep-
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resented into forms or formats useable by blind indi-
viduals. 
‘‘(d) 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. 
‘‘(e) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a taxable 
year beginning after 2021, the $2,000 amount in 
subsection (b) shall be increased by an amount equal 
to— 
‘‘(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by 
‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter-
mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 
year in which the taxable year begins, deter-
mined by substituting ‘calendar year 2020’ for 
‘calendar year 2016’ in subparagraph (A)(ii) 
thereof. 
‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—If the amount as adjusted 
under subparagraph (A) is not a multiple of $100, 
such amount shall be rounded to the next lowest 
multiple of $100. 
‘‘(f) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply 
with respect to amounts paid or incurred in taxable years 
beginning after December 31, 2026.’’. 
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(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 6211(b)(4)(A) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘, 36C’’ 
after ‘‘36B’’. 
(2) Section 1324(b)(2) of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, 36C’’ after 
‘‘, 36B’’. 
(3) The table of sections for subpart C of part 
IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 36B the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 36C. Credit for qualified access technology for the blind.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2021. 
Æ 
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