I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5359 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the exclusion for 
employer-provided educational assistance and to expand the availability 
of the student loan interest deduction. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 6, 2019 
Mr. STIVERS (for himself, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. KATKO, Ms. 
SPANBERGER, and Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma) 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 expand 
the exclusion for employer-provided educational assist-
ance and to expand the availability of the student loan 
interest deduction. 
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 ‘‘Decreasing Employees 
Burdensome Taxes from Student Loans Act of 2019’’ or 
the ‘‘DEBT Act of 2019’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:12 Dec 12, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5359.IH
H5359
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
SEC. 2. EXCLUSION FOR EMPLOYER PAYMENT OF QUALI-
FIED EDUCATION LOANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 127(c)(1) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end of subparagraph (A), by redesignating subpara-
graph (B) as subparagraph (C), and by inserting after 
subparagraph (A) the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(B) the payment by an employer, whether 
paid to the employee or to a lender, of principal 
or interest on any qualified education loan (as 
defined in section 221(d)(1)) incurred by the 
employee, and’’. 
(b) 
DENIAL
OF
DOUBLE
BENEFIT.—Section 
221(e)(1) of such Code is amended by inserting before the 
period at the end the following: ‘‘, or for any amount 
which is excludable from gross income under section 
127(c)(1)(B)’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to payments made by employers 
after December 31, 2019. 
SEC. 3. INCREASE IN MAXIMUM AMOUNT EXCLUDABLE 
UNDER 
EDUCATIONAL 
ASSISTANCE 
PRO-
GRAMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The text of paragraph (2) of sec-
tion 127(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:12 Dec 12, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5359.IH
H5359
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
amended by striking ‘‘$5,250’’ both places it appears and 
inserting ‘‘$10,000’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The heading for 
section 127(a)(2) of such Code is amended by striking 
‘‘$5,250 MAXIMUM’’ and inserting ‘‘MAXIMUM’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to payments made by employers 
after December 31, 2019. 
SEC. 4. MODIFICATION OF DEDUCTION FOR INTEREST ON 
EDUCATION LOANS. 
(a) INCREASED
MAXIMUM
DEDUCTION.—Section 
221(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amend-
ed by striking ‘‘$2,500’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,000’’. 
(b) 
INCREASED
INCOME
LIMITATION.—Section 
221(b)(2)(B)(ii) of such Code is amended by striking 
‘‘$15,000 ($30,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$85,000 ($115,000’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2019. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:12 Dec 12, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H5359.IH
H5359
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS