I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1478
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow companies to donate
computer equipment and software, and training related thereto, to ele-
mentary and secondary schools for use in their educational programs,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 29, 1997
Ms. ESHOO (for herself, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. FROST, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr.
BOUCHER, Mr. CANADY of Florida, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr. DEL-
LUMS, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. FILNER, Ms. RIVERS, Mrs. LOWEY, Mrs.
MALONEY of New York, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. BONIOR, Mr.
SANDLIN, Mr. FORD, Mr. TURNER, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr.
UNDERWOOD, Mrs. THURMAN, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. MOAKLEY, Mr. LEWIS of
Georgia, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. WEYGAND, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. RANGEL,
Mr. UPTON, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. LEVIN, Mrs. KENNELLY of Connecticut,
and Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow com-
panies to donate computer equipment and software, and
training related thereto, to elementary and secondary
schools for use in their educational programs, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS OF COMPUTER
EQUIPMENT AND SOFTWARE TO ELEMEN-
TARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND TO
QUALIFIED ORGANIZATIONS PROVIDING AS-
SISTANCE TO INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABIL-
ITIES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (e) of section 170 of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding
at the end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(6) SPECIAL RULE FOR CONTRIBUTIONS OF
COMPUTER EQUIPMENT AND SOFTWARE USED FOR
EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES.—
‘‘(A) LIMIT ON REDUCTION.—In the case
of a qualified educational contribution, the re-
duction under paragraph (1)(A) shall be no
greater than the amount determined under
paragraph (3)(B).
‘‘(B) QUALIFIED EDUCATIONAL CONTRIBU-
TION.—For purposes of this paragraph, the
term ‘qualified educational contribution’ means
a charitable contribution by a corporation of
any computer software or computer or periph-
eral equipment, but only if—
‘‘(i) the contribution is to—
‘‘(I) an educational organization
described in subsection (b)(1)(A)(ii),
‘‘(II) a governmental unit de-
scribed in subsection (c)(1), or
‘‘(III) an organization described
in section 501(c)(3) and exempt from
taxation under section 501(a), or a
governmental unit described in sub-
section (c)(1), that has documented
experience and expertise at the com-
munity level in providing training and
evaluation for information technology
services and devices to individuals
with disabilities, their parents, family
members, guardians, advocates, or au-
thorized representatives,
‘‘(ii) the contribution is made not
later than 3 years after the date the tax-
payer acquired the property (or in the case
of property constructed by the taxpayer,
the date the construction of the property is
substantially completed),
‘‘(iii) substantially all of the use of the
property by the donee is for use within the
United States for educational purposes re-
lated to the purpose or function of the or-
ganization or unit,
‘‘(iv) the original use of the property
began with—
‘‘(I) the donee, in the case of
property constructed by the taxpayer
or property of the taxpayer described
in section 1221(1), or
‘‘(II) the taxpayer, in any case
not described in subclause (I),
‘‘(v) the property is not transferred by
the donee in exchange for money, other
property, or services, and
‘‘(vi) the taxpayer receives from the
donee a written statement representing
that its use and disposition of the property
will be in accordance with the provisions of
clauses (iii) and (v).
‘‘(C) DONATIONS TO CHARITY FOR REFUR-
BISHING.—
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—For purposes of
this paragraph, a charitable contribution
by a corporation shall be treated as a
qualified education contribution if—
‘‘(I) such contribution is a con-
tribution of any computer or periph-
eral equipment to a qualified organi-
zation, and
‘‘(II) the taxpayer receives from
such organization a written statement
representing that its use of the prop-
erty (and any use by the organization
or unit to which it donates the prop-
erty) meets the needs of the donee
and the requirements of clause (v) of
subparagraph (B).
‘‘(ii) QUALIFIED ORGANIZATION.—For
purposes of clause (i), an organization is a
qualified organization if—
‘‘(I) the organization is described
in section 501(c)(3) and exempt from
taxation under section 501(a), and
‘‘(II) a substantial part of the
business of the organization is the re-
pair and refurbishment of computers
or peripheral equipment and the dona-
tion of such equipment to an organi-
zation or unit described in subpara-
graph (B)(i) for a purpose described
in subparagraph (B)(iii).
‘‘(D) SPECIAL RULES.—For the purposes
of this paragraph—
‘‘(i) CONSTRUCTION OF PROPERTY BY
TAXPAYER.—Paragraph (4)(C) shall apply.
‘‘(ii) REFURBISHMENT OF PROPERTY
BY TAXPAYER.—Property that is substan-
tially refurbished by the taxpayer shall be
treated as property constructed by the tax-
payer.
‘‘(E) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of
this paragraph—
‘‘(i) 
COMPUTER
OR
PERIPHERAL
EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘computer or pe-
ripheral equipment’ has the meaning given
such term by section 168(i)(2)(B).
‘‘(ii) 
COMPUTER
SOFTWARE.—The
term ‘computer software’ has the meaning
given such term by section 197(e)(3)(B).
‘‘(iii) EDUCATIONAL
PURPOSE.—The
term ‘educational purpose’ includes admin-
istration incident to providing education.
‘‘(iv) DISABILITY.—The term ‘disabil-
ity’ has the meaning given such term by
section 3(2) of the Americans with Disabil-
ities Act of 1990.