I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 500 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income 
any discharge of indebtedness income on education loans of deceased 
or disabled veterans. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 12, 2017 
Mr. DESJARLAIS (for himself, Mrs. BLACK, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BRAT, Mr. 
COHEN, Mr. COOPER, Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, 
Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. KUSTOFF of Tennessee, Mr. MASSIE, Mr. ROE 
of Tennessee, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. STIVERS, and Mrs. BROOKS of In-
diana) 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 
from gross income any discharge of indebtedness income 
on education loans of deceased or disabled veterans. 
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 ‘‘Tax Relief for our Na-
tion’s Heroes Act’’ or the ‘‘Andrew P. Carpenter Tax 
Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. DISCHARGE OF INDEBTEDNESS INCOME ON EDU-
CATION LOANS OF DECEASED OR DISABLED 
VETERANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (f) of section 108 of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 
at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(5) DECEASED OR DISABLED VETERANS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—In the case of any 
student loan described in subparagraph (C) of 
a covered individual, no amount which (but for 
this paragraph) would otherwise be includible in 
gross income by reason of the discharge (in 
whole or in part) of such loan shall be includ-
ible in gross income of any signer or cosigner 
on such loan. 
‘‘(B) COVERED
INDIVIDUAL.—The term 
‘covered individual’ means an individual— 
‘‘(i) who is a veteran or member of 
the Armed Forces of the United States, 
who served on active duty in the Armed 
Forces of the United States, and 
‘‘(ii) who— 
‘‘(I) is deceased— 
‘‘(aa) as a result of a serv-
ice-connected death, or 
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‘‘(bb) as a result of a serv-
ice-connected disability incurred 
as a result of such active duty 
service, or 
‘‘(II) has a service-connected dis-
ability the Secretary of Veterans Af-
fairs has rated as total. 
‘‘(C) STUDENT
LOAN
DESCRIBED.—For 
purposes of subparagraph (A), a student loan 
described in this subparagraph is a loan that— 
‘‘(i) is made, insured, or guaranteed 
under title IV of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965, or 
‘‘(ii) is a private education loan (as 
defined in section 140(a)(7) of the Truth 
in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)(7))), 
made by an entity (other than an entity 
described in paragraph (2)) to an indi-
vidual to assist the individual in attending 
an educational organization described in 
section 170(b)(1)(A)(ii). 
‘‘(D) SERVICE-CONNECTED.—For purposes 
of subparagraph (A), the term ‘service-con-
nected’ has the meaning given such term by 
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section 101(16) of title 38, United States 
Code.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to discharges of indebtedness oc-
curring on or after October 7, 2001. 
(c) WAIVER OF LIMITATION FOR CREDITS AND RE-
FUNDS ATTRIBUTABLE TO THIS ACT.—If the credit or re-
fund of any overpayment of tax resulting from the applica-
tion of the amendment made by subsection (a) to a period 
before the date of enactment of this Act is prevented as 
of such date by the operation of any law or rule of law 
(including res judicata), such credit or refund may never-
theless be allowed or made if the claim therefor is filed 
before the close of the 2-year period beginning on the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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