I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 615 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to include student loan repayers 
as members of targeted groups for purposes of the work opportunity 
credit and to provide for a credit against tax for student loan program 
startup costs. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 23, 2017 
Mr. ROSS 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 include 
student loan repayers as members of targeted groups 
for purposes of the work opportunity credit and to pro-
vide for a credit against tax for student loan program 
startup costs. 
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 ‘‘Student Loan Repay-
ment Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF STUDENT LOAN REPAYERS FOR PUR-
POSES OF WORK OPPORTUNITY CREDIT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 51(d)(1) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 
end of subparagraph (I), by striking the period at the end 
of subparagraph (J) and inserting ‘‘, or’’, and by adding 
at the end the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(K) a qualified student loan repayer.’’. 
(b) QUALIFIED
STUDENT
LOAN
REPAYER
DE-
FINED.—Section 51(d) of such Code is amended by adding 
at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(16) QUALIFIED STUDENT LOAN REPAYER.— 
The term ‘qualified student loan repayer’ means any 
individual who is certified by the designated local 
agency as— 
‘‘(A) having at least an associate’s degree; 
and 
‘‘(B) having outstanding qualified edu-
cation loans (as defined in section 221) of not 
less than $10,000.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to individuals who 
begin work for the employer after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. 
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SEC. 3. STUDENT LOAN PROGRAM STARTUP COSTS CREDIT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section: 
‘‘SEC. 45S. STUDENT LOAN PROGRAM STARTUP COSTS 
CREDIT. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, in 
the case of an eligible employer, the student loan program 
startup costs credit determined under this section for any 
taxable year is an amount equal to 50 percent of the quali-
fied startup costs paid or incurred by the taxpayer during 
the taxable year. 
‘‘(b) DOLLAR LIMITATION.—The amount of the cred-
it determined under this section for any taxable year for 
a qualified employer shall not exceed— 
‘‘(1) for the first credit year and each of the 2 
taxable years immediately following the first credit 
year, the product of— 
‘‘(A) $500, multiplied by 
‘‘(B) the number of employees partici-
pating during such taxable year in an eligible 
employer plan for which the employer is eligible 
for a credit under this section, and 
‘‘(2) for any other taxable year, zero. 
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‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.—For purposes of this 
section, the term ‘eligible employer’ means an employer 
if such employer, or any member of any controlled group 
including the employer (or any predecessor of either), dur-
ing the 3-taxable-year period immediately preceding the 
first taxable year for which the credit under this section 
is otherwise allowable for a qualified employer plan of the 
employer, has not established or maintained a qualified 
employer plan with respect to which contributions were 
made, or benefits were accrued, for substantially the same 
employees as are in the qualified employer plan. 
‘‘(d) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 
section— 
‘‘(1) QUALIFIED STARTUP COSTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 
startup costs’ means any ordinary and nec-
essary expenses of an eligible employer which 
are paid or incurred in connection with the es-
tablishment or administration of an eligible em-
ployer plan. Such term shall not include any 
payment made to, or on behalf of, any employee 
pursuant to such plan. 
‘‘(B) PLAN
MUST
HAVE
AT
LEAST
ONE 
PARTICIPANT.—Such term shall not include any 
expense in connection with a plan that does not 
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have at least one employee eligible to partici-
pate who is not a highly compensated employee. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE
EMPLOYER
PLAN.—The term 
‘eligible employer plan’ means a student loan repay-
ment plan administered by an employer through 
which the employer provides, for each employee for 
each year, qualified matching contributions. 
‘‘(3) QUALIFIED MATCHING CONTRIBUTION.— 
The term ‘qualified matching contribution’ means an 
employer contribution made to an eligible employer 
plan on behalf of an employee on account of an em-
ployee contribution made by such employee if such 
employer contribution is at least the lesser of— 
‘‘(A) the amount of such employee con-
tribution, and 
‘‘(B) $2,000. 
‘‘(4) FIRST
CREDIT
YEAR.—The term ‘first 
credit year’ means— 
‘‘(A) the taxable year which includes the 
date that the eligible employer plan to which 
such costs relate becomes effective, or 
‘‘(B) at the election of the eligible em-
ployer, the taxable year preceding the taxable 
year referred to in subparagraph (A). 
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‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES.—For purposes of this sec-
tion— 
‘‘(1) AGGREGATION RULES.—All persons treat-
ed as a single employer under subsection (a) or (b) 
of section 52, or subsection (m) or (o) of section 
414, shall be treated as one person. All eligible em-
ployer plans shall be treated as one eligible employer 
plan. 
‘‘(2) DISALLOWANCE OF DEDUCTION.—No de-
duction shall be allowed for that portion of the quali-
fied startup costs paid or incurred for the taxable 
year which is equal to the credit determined under 
subsection (a). 
‘‘(3) DEDUCTION
FOR
MATCHING
CONTRIBU-
TION.—For deductions for qualified matching con-
tributions, see section 162. 
‘‘(4) ELECTION NOT TO CLAIM CREDIT.—This 
section shall not apply to a taxpayer for any taxable 
year if such taxpayer elects to have this section not 
apply for such taxable year.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of section 38 
is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of para-
graph (35), by striking the period at the end of 
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